POLITICAL    PARTIES 


UNITED   STATES 


HISTORY    AND    INFLUENCE 


JACOB  HARRIS  PATTON,  M.A.,  Ph.D. 

h 

AUTHOR    OF 

'FOUR   HUNDRED  YEARS  OF  AMERICAN   HISTORY,"  "NATURAL 

RESOURCES    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES,"  "  POLITICAL 

ECONOMY    FOR   AMERICAN    YOUTH,    WRITTEN 

FROM   AN   AMERICAN    STANDPOINT  " 


(Trutb  Is  not  partisan" 


NEW  YORK 
NEW    AMSTERDAM    BOOK    COMPANY 

156  Fifth  Avenue 
1896 


Copyright,  i8gb 

BY 

NEW  AMSTERDAM  BOOK  COMPANY 


-W  OIBECTOBY 
P11INTINQ  AND  BOOKBINOINQ  COMPANT 
HEW  YORK 


Aa6  ( 


PREFACE. 


The  Author  of  this  monograph  never  held  an 
office,  nor  excepting  by  his  vote  aided  others  to 
obtain  one;  and  in  writing  it,  his  only  motive  has 
been  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  intelligent 
and  thoughtful  to  the  different  historical  phases 
of  our  political  life  and  National  policy — Foreign 
and  Domestic.  He  invites  the  attention  more 
especially  of  comparatively  young  men  who  for 
years,  perhaps,  have  exercised  the  privileges  of 
citizenship,  and  also  of  those  who  are  about  to  en- 
ter upon  such  duties;  in  addition  he  extends  the 
invitation  to  a  large  and  worthy  class  of  intelligent 
citizens  of  foreign  birth,  who  are  presumed  to  be 
less  informed  on  these  subjects  than  the  native- 
born.  Thoughtful  citizens,  as  well  as  true  states- 
men, are  recognizing  more  and  more  the  impor- 
tance of  our  younger  men  being  well  informed  on 
the  political,  the  moral,  the  financial,  and  the  in- 
dustrial questions  of  the  day. 

In  writing  a  "  History  of  the  American  People" 
the  Author  has  had  occasion  to  study  the  pi'inciples 
held  and  put  in  practice,  during  the  Nation's  life, 
by  our  different  political  organizations.  In  the 
present  work,  which  has  grown  out  of  that,  his 


iv  PRE  r  ACE. 

ntteulion  has  been  directeJ  to  these  parties — Tlie 
Doinocratic,  the  Feileml,  the  Whig  and  the  Ke- 
pi'.blioan.  The  democratic  being  the  first  to  take 
form  and  to  remain  till  the  present  time.  In  order 
to  understand  fully  the  phases  of  character  pertaining 
to  anj'one  politicid  party,  it  is  essential,  likewise,  to 
have  a  knowledge  of  the  antagonistic  principles 
actuating  its  rivals.  By  "politics,"  here  so  brielly 
treated,  is  meant  not  only  the  influence  and  out- 
growth of  legislative  measures,  advocated  or  op- 
posed, but  likewise  the  manner  in  which  political 
power  has  often  been  attained  and  kept. 

This  monogra])h  is  not  written  in  the  interest 
or  spirit  of  partisanship — Truth  is  not  partisan;  its 
nature  forbids.  Facts  are  immutable;  prejudices, 
even,  cannot  change  them:  of  those  here  intro- 
duced, some  are  Jiistorical,  some  are  notorious ; — 
the  latter  are  equally  true  with  the  former,  though 
they  may  not  be  found  in  the  books.  In  illustra- 
tion of  this  remark  may  be  adduced  the  summary 
of  results  found  in  the  last  three  pages  of  this 
book.  If  statements  or  sentiments  herein  seem 
harsh  or  severe,  their  severity  consists  in  their 
truthfulness. 

For  the  facts  derived  from  our  Nation's  history 
references  are  made,  that  the  reader  may  verify 
them;  those  which  have  been  called  "notorious" 
are  so  Avell  known  that  intelligent  citizens  will  not 
challenge  their  accuracy.  J.  H.  P. 

New  York  City,  April,  1896. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction, 

Pagb. 
Section  I. — Neutrality 9 

The  Trying  Period— The  Clubs— Birth     of  Democratic 

Party— Policy    of    Washiugtou— A    Secret    Influence— 

Change  of  Front. 
Section  II.— Government  ant)  the  Governed.        .        .   17 

Demagogisin  —   Insurrection     Encouraged — Aristocrat 

and    Democrat — The    Poor    Man's    Friend — Republican 

Simplicity. 
Secton  III.— Finance  and  Commerce 26 

The    Second    Mistake — Import    Duties — U.   S.  Bank — 

Chinese  Policy — Disregard  of  Commerce — State  Rights. 
Section  IV. — Alien  and  Sedition  Laws.        ...       31 

Vice-President  J  eff  erson — The  Plots  of  Aliens  — Resol  ution 

of  179S — Citizen  Time  Required. 
Section  V. — Strict  Constitutional  Construction.        .    37 

Nature   of  the  U.    S.    Constitution — Application   of   its 

Implied  Powers. 
Section  VI. — A  Comparison 41 

Party  Material— Prejudices  Instilled— See's  of  Treasury. 

Section  VII. — Jefferson's  Empargo 46 

F"oreign  War — Domestic  Paralysis — Financiering — Inter- 
nal Improvements — An  Unforeseen  Blessing — Failure  of 
the  Embargo  Policy. 

Section  VIII. —Second  War  with  England.        .       .        50 
War  Preparations — Jefferson's  Peace  Policy. 

Section  IX. — Our  First  Important  Tariff.        .        .        53 
American  Manufactures — Lord  Brougham's  Advice — An 
Equalizing  Measure — The  Results. 

Section  X. — Labor  and  Intelligence.         ...        58 
In  the  Slave  States- Ignorant   Laborers— A   Change  of 
Base—In  the  Free  States— Slavery  in  Politics— Imported 
Laborers. 

Section  XI. — Testimony  of  a  Democrat.       ...     65 
Martin  Van  Buren — Senate  Committees. 

Section  XII.— Political  Patronage.  .        .        .        .69 

The  Demand  tor  Spoils— The  Kremer  Letter— Morey. 


N  i  CONTENTS. 

Pacb. 
'Letter — Election  by  the  House — .Inckson  a  Candidate 
Hi.t  Tiieorios  I'ntlrrf^o  a  ("lian;;e — Tiic  S|«iils — Tiie  I'ro- 
fi-s.-^ional  l'i>litici:in— .lai'iisun's  Now  I'olicy -- Intense 
ratiioiisni— lii'inovals  and  Apiioinlmfnts — lJisrcj4ard  of 
t'onslitutod  l^iws. 

Section  XIII.  -I'mtk-D  States  Hankinc;.         ...       80 
rniforni    l'nrii'ni'\  — I'.    S.   Itank  Oiijioscd— Boston  the 
Money  t 'enter — .lacivson's  Veto — Tlio  false  Klection  Cry 
—  The  Keiiroof  of  Van  IJuren. 

Section  XIV.— iMroitr.s  and  Commehck 90 

Nortiiern  and  Sontliern  Views  on  tlie  Tariff — Tlie  People 
of  tlic  Nortli — Niillilicatiou— Compromise  Tariff — The 
Cr.isli  and  the  Uprising. 

Section  XV.— Financial  Ufview 97 

National  IJankin,!;— Independent  Trcasnry — American 
Credit— Various  Makeshifts. 

Section  XVI.— Caiti-.s  Rile 102 

The  two  Partie.s — Their  Material — How  Managed — Plan- 
ters and  Farincr.«— Politiciil  Inspiration— Sons  and 
Fatliers — The  Foieijiners. 

Section  XVII. — Wjiic  Kkforms Ill 

Industrial  Advancement — Cheap  Postage— Its  Oppon- 
ents— Hij,'h  totes. 

Section  XVIII. — Dkmocrats  Again  in  Powkr.    .  117 

Tiie  Turn  of  tlie  Wheel- The  Trick— Tariff  of  184G— 
Double  Invoices — Government  deemed  an  Enemy. 

Section  XIX.— The  Mexican  War 122 

Neighborliness — Injustice  of  the  M'ar — The  Aspiimed 
Boundary — The  Cost  of  Texas — Of  California— Of  Louis- 
iana— And  of  Alaska. 

Section  XX.— Kansas.      .......        137 

Increased  Greed- Fugitive  Slave  Law— Squatter  Sover- 
eignty—" Bleeding  Kansas  "—The  Political  Result. 

Section  XXI.— Filibusterings 137 

Ostend  Manifesto— Other  Raids— Responsibility  of  The 
Democracy. 

Section  XXII -Foreign  Relations 141 

Protection  of  Adoi)ted  Citizens— Political  Brag. 

Section  XXIII  —Tariff  Records 144 

The  Tariff  Commission— Present  Party  Attitudes. 

Section  XXIV.— The  Poor  Man's  Partv.  .        .        .  152 

The  Frce-Traders- Notorious  Facts— An  Instance  in 
Point— The  Workingman's  Cai)ital— His  Income— JIutual 
Interests— The  Workingman's  Choice— A  Word  of  Warn- 
ing.— Collins  Line  Ruined. 

Section  XXV.— Free  a.*cd  Slave  Labor.  .        .        .  163 

Sectionalism — The  True  Progress. 

Section  XXVI.— De.mocuatic  Oracles 108 


CONTENTS.  Vii 

Pagb. 
Jefferson  and  Jackson— Disloyal  Incumbents  Removed- 
Civil  Service.  _,<*«<* 

Section  XXVII. — Constitptional  Interpretation.        .  172  "^^ 
The  real  Interpreter — Unauthorized  Interpretation — Con- 
gressional Nullification — Suiniuary  of  Faults. 

Section  XXVIII.  -Opponents  of  the  Democrats.      .    .  178 
Tiie  Federalist-  The  Whig— Tlie  Republican. 

Section  XXIX.— Homestead  Law 182 

The  year  1803— How  to  get  a  Home— Timber  Culture 
Act— Blessings  conferred  by  the  Law— School  Funds — 
How  Lands  are  given  to  Railways — Speculators— Opjiosi- 
tion  to  the  Homestead  Law— Lands  for  Colleges— The 
Advantages  of  the  Measure — Mingling  of  the  Settlers- 
One  Dollar  and  Quarter  an  Acre — Absence  of  Humane 
Sentiment — Benefits  Recognized. 

Section  XXX. — National  Banks 199 

Financial  Security — No  Monopoly — Inflation  and  Con- 
traction. 

Section  XXXL — Evils  op  Partisanship.  .        .        .  204 

City  and  Country  Democracy — Issues  of  Past  and  Pres- 
ent—The Tweed  Ring— How  Countenanced— Figure  Heads 
— Spurious  Civil  Liberty — Party  Material — Republican 
Independence. 

Section   XXXIL— Southern    and    Nobthern    Democ- 
racy  219 

Old  Lines  Redrawn — Northern  Aid  for  the  South- 
Northern  Sympathy — The  Rebuff — Southern  Outrages 
and  Northern 'Democrats — Presumed  Political  Reasons. 

Section  XXXIII. — Southerners  as  Statesmen.  .  .  228 
Sectional  Narrowness — Taking  Time  by  the  Forelock — 
Sectionalism— Mismanagement  of  Private  Affairs— Blun- 
ders in  Public  Affairs— Tact  in  Political  Management — 
Lack  of  Practical  Wisdom— The  Infatuation— The  better 
Way— Tlie  Present  Policy — Johnson's  Plans— Who  were 
Responsible? — Reconstruction— The  Mistakes. 

Section  XXXIV.— Caste   as   a  Political  Force    .       .  248 
Class  Antagonisms— The  Whiffs— Tlie  True  Aristocracv— 
Prejudice  and   Nicknames— Silk    Stocking  Gentrv-Lo- 
cofoco  and  Bourbon— Black  Republican— Recent  Efforts 
—Copperheads— Platform  Statements . 

Section  XXXV.— Party  Discipline 258 

Democratic  Devotion— Drill  and  Demand— Contempt  for 
Dissenters— Control  of  the  Ignorant— The  Position  of 
Power. 

SfcCTioN  XXXVr.— Resumption  op  Specie  Payment,       .  2G4 
Assumptions— Business  Revival— History  of  the  Act— Re- 
fcirding  Resumption  -Policy  of  Obstruction. 

Section  XXXVII.— Political  Trading 271 


/ 


/ 

/ 


viii  CO.YV'AWT'.*?. 

Pags. 

Nomin.ition  of  llnmcoCiieoly— CoquPttins  with    Fiutioiis 

— IViiiaiuls  on  tlic  Meiiibcrs. 
8k<ti<)n  XXXVIll.- Phoi'iikts  ok  Evil        ....  Tt5 

Kjiven  CiiKiks— Futile  I'mplicoies— I'iirty  Linos— Fallacies 

—  I'lie  Workman's  ^XjiBwer— The  lieuevoleuce  of    Manu- 

fiicturors. 
Skction  XXXIX.— False  Prktf.nsks 28;i 

KconoiMv  —An  Illustration— Wailike  Patriotism. 
8kctu)\  XL.— Chance  ok  Hase.  '287 

Abolition  of   Slavery— Pajing  the  Nation's  Debt— Fiual 

Approval  oi  Mciisiires. 

Section  XLI.— 1li.k«;ai,  Voting.         .         .         .        29i 
Tlie    Bii-sic     Principle — Registry     Law — Election 
Fraiuls — Tlie  Kiiiit'd}- — Opposed  by  Democrats — 
Facts  to  be  Explained. 

Section  XLII. — (.  kntualization.         .         .         .        299 
Meaning  of  the  Term— A   Strong  Government — 
A  Decision  of  ibe  U.  S.  Court. 

Section  XLIII.— Financial  Comparison.  .        .       .302 

Balance  of  Trade— Our  Bonds  and  Exixirts— Fancy  Fi- 
naiK'ierinj:— Tlie  loss  on  81,000— 'J'lie  Contrast— Success- 
ful Finaiu-ieriii;:— Diiuiuisliing  the  Debt— Cost  of  Interest 
for  e;ifli  Individual. 

Section  XLIV.— Civil  Service  Reform.        .        .        .        .'510 
Begun  by  Hej)ublicaiis— the  Kules— Democratic  Views. 

Section  XLV. — The  Lujcor  Interest 314 

Its  Power — Its  Allegiance— Political  Organizations  on  the 
Question — The  Question  of  the  Future. 

Section  XLVI. — Yolno  Men's  Responsibility.        .        .  325 
A  Necessary  Choice — Correct  Principles  luiixjrtant— The 
Bright  Illiterate  —Helps  to  a  Decision. 

Section  XLVII.— Democratic  Self-Distrcst.        ,        .      332 
Uncert.iiiity    of   Principle   and  Action- Anxiety  of  the 
Traders— The  Warning  Voices 

Section  XL  VIII — Final  Comparison 337 

Dt'iiiocratic  Theories— Republican  Practice— Censure  of 
Posterity. 

Section  XLIX.— Democratic  Success.  .  .  341 
Tlie  Political  Slogan — Tlie  Financial  Laws  Re- 
main— Tariff  Revision  Attempted — Congressional 
Votes  Cast  in  Different  Seclion.s — Tariff  Revision 
Again — Action  Under  Previous  Laws — Civil  Ser- 
vice Reform. 


CONTENTS.  ix 


Section  L.— March  4,  1889-AprilI,  18%.  .  .  S48-3T0 
Centennial  of  Washington's  First  Inauguration  —  The 
Legacies — The  McKinley  Bill — The  Cost  of  Production — 
Salient  Points  of  a  Tariff — Schemes  to  Deceive — Mineral 
Resources — Free  Sugar — The  Prohibition — Judicious  En- 
actment— Shoddy  —  Industries  Transferred  — Tinplate — 
Workingmen  Misled — Appropriations — Contrasts — Notea 
for  Congressmen — Democratic  Principles — Basis  of  Cost 
— Raw  Material — The  Surplus — The  Deficiency. 

Section  LI. — Impediments  Removed.     .        .        .        371-379 
The  Outlook — The  Spoils  System — The  Hopeful  Prospect 
— National  Banks — Our  Territory  Ample — The  Protege 
— Danger  to  the  Public  Schools — The  Lien. 

Section  LII. —Theories  Rejected .380 

The  Summary 3S;i-3»4 


POLITICAL    PAETIES. 


INTEODUCTION. 

"We  give  witli  that  of  its  rivals  a  history  of  one  of 
the  oldest  existing  political  organizations  in  the 
world,  yet  one  which  has  passed  its  life  within  the 
youngest  of  the  family  of  nations.  We  design  to 
trace,  concisely,  the  causes  of  its  remarkable  vitality, 
what  innate  principle  permeated  its  life  and  gave  it 
strength  ;  and  also  to  note  how,  even  on  account  of 
the  combination  of  dissimilar  elements  in  its  inner 
life,  it  has  in  greater  or  less  degree  retained  its  hold 
upon  the  American  people. 

For  sixty  years — from  the  inauguration  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  to  that  of  Abraham  Lincoln — it  had  a,pre- 
domhiant  influence  in  the  councils  of  this  nation, 
and  during  that  period  largely  moulded  its  destinies  ; 
either  when  iu  absolute  control,  or,  negatively,  as  a 
morst  determined  opponent  of  the  policy  of  its  rival, 
under  whatever  name,  that  for  the  time  being 
wielded  the  national  authority.  During  these  three- 
score years  its  prominent  political  rival  held  national 
rule,  nominally  for  only  eight  years,  and  iu  truth 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

even  then  but  partially.  This  was  owing  to  the 
deaths,  while  mi  ottice,  of  tlie  two  Presidents  belong- 
inj;  to  tiiiit  rival  or|/ani/ation,  as  the  Vice-Presiilents 
who  siiccceJoil  to  the  office  '^-ivied  out  only  in  part 
the  avowed  policy  of  the  party  to  which  they  owed 
their  election.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  however, 
tliat  this  venerable  organization,  whose  age  is  more 
tlian  fourscore  and  ten  years,  often  twits  its  stalwart 
rival  of  to-day,  whose  age  is  a  score  and  a  half,  with 
having  lived  too  long. 

Differences  of  Opinion. — There  were  elements 
in  existence,  even  in  colonial  times,  that  led  todifTer- 
ences  of  opinions  and  customs  among  the  colonists. 
These  diflferences  had  their  origin  in  the  mother- 
land, and  in  consequence  the  Puritan  of  New  Eng- 
land retained  his  prejudices  against  the  cavalier  of 
Virginia,  and  the  latter  reciprocated  tliera  most 
cordially.  In  a  modified  form  these  disturbing  ele- 
ments passed  over  from  the  colonial  period  into  that 
of  the  nation,  wherein  in  numerous  ways  they  have 
had  influence. 

The  common  people  of  the  eastern  colonies  were 
far  more  intelligent  than  those  of  the  same  class  in 
the  southern.  In  the  former,  public  schools,  which 
were  unknown  in  the  latter,  had  been  in  existence 
about  one  hundred  and  thirt}'  years  when  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  was  made.  (See  Four 
Hundred  Years  of  American  History  pp.  124,  126, 
127,  322,  857-859.)  The  intercourse,  in  business 
or  otherwise,  between  the  eastern  colonies  and  the 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

southern  was  quite  limited  during  the  colonial 
period.  The  former  had  much  more  intimate  rela- 
tions with  the  middle  ones.  To  the  latter,  before 
the  Revolution,  great  numbers  of  eastern  people 
migrated  from  time  to  time,  especially  those  Avho 
sympathized  with  the  Presbyterians  ;  these  settled 
principally  in  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  The 
non-interference  by  the  magisti*ates  with  religious 
opinions  or  forms  of  Avorship  in  the  middle  colo- 
nies was  in  marked  contrast  with  their  interfer- 
ence as  practised  in  both  the  eastern  and  southern. 
The  liberality  of  the  Dutch  in  New  York  was  pro- 
verbial, while  the  demand  for  equal  rights  in  relig- 
ious affairs  was  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  the 
Presbyterians  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  in 
which  demand  the  Quakers  of  the  latter  colony  were 
in  full  sympathy. 

Prejudices  Partially  Removed. — The  preju- 
dices mentioned  above  began  to  wear  away  when 
the  leading  men  of  the  colonies  became  better 
known  one  to  another.  The  oppressions  of  the 
mother  country  compelled  the  people  to  unite  in 
their  own  defence,  and  for  the  first  time  their  lead- 
ing men  met  in  council  as  delegates  from  their  re- 
spective colonies.  Thus  was  constituted  the  Con- 
gress of  October  1,  1765,  held  in  New  York  for  the 
purpose  of  devising  measures  to  vindicate  their 
rights,  which  were  about  to  be  infringed  by  the  fa- 
mous Stamp  act. 

These  prominent  gentlemen  were  well  infoi'med, 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

and  ill  tlic  main  hml  enjoyed  similar  courses  of 
study  in  their  educatiou,  the  influeuce  of  which  be- 
came a  solvent,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  the  prejudices 
cheriiihed  by  both  parties.  Mutual  interests  i)ro- 
duced  n  kindred  feeling  that  was  blended  with  a 
growing  love  of  country,  which  led  to  an  enlight- 
ened patriotism.  The  latter,  in  becoming  more  and 
more  comprehensive,  achieved  success  in  vindicating 
the  independence  of  the  colonies,  and  in  establish- 
ing a  nation  that  controls  a  continent. 

It  was  not  till  the  common  soldiers  from  the  va- 
rious colonies  came  together  as  patriots,  in  Wash- 
ington's army,  that  the  prejudices  of  this  less  intel- 
ligent class  began  to  manifest  themselves.  The 
officers  of  the  army  labored  hard  to  overcome  these 
evils,  which  cropped  out  when  "  the  men  of  one 
colony  hesitated  to  serve  with  those  of  another,  or 
under  officers  not  of  their  own  choosing,"  or  of  their 
own  colony.  Provincial  distinctions  that  caused 
dissatisfaction  and  sectional  jealousies  sprang  up 
between  the  troops  of  the  different  colonies,  while 
a  disposition  was  common  among  the  Southern 
officers  to  disparage  the  Eastern  soldiers.  "  The 
Southern  troops  [from  Virginia  and  Maryland], 
comprising  the  regiments  south  of  the  Delaware, 
looked  with  unkind  feelings  on  those  of  New 
England,  .  .  .  and  made  them  the  object  of  ill- 
disguised  derision  among  their  fellows.  . 
Their  scarlet  and  buff  uniforms  contrasted  vividly 
with  the  rustic  attire  of  the  yeoman  battalions  of 
the  East."     (Trvt'ng's  Life  of  Washington.) 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

Though  these  prejudices  and  bickerings  had  their 
origin  in  trifling  causes,  they  were  none  the  less 
annojdug  and  had  a  bad  influence. 

The  Need  of  Closer  Union. — During  the  Kev- 
olution  intercourse  became  more  frequent  than 
hitherto  between  the  people  of  the  several  colonies, 
and  after  peace  was  concluded  this  element  contin- 
ued in  business  relations  until  it  became  evident  to 
thinking  minds  that  there  should  be  a  closer  union 
between  these  independent  States.  Though  there 
were  many  clashing  interests  (see  Four  Hundred 
Years  of  American  History,  pp.  563-565),  the  peo- 
ple of  the  respective  States  magnanimously  agreed, 
for  the  good  of  the  whole,  to  relinquish  their  spe- 
cial interests,  and  they  chose  delegates  to  the  con- 
vention which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  (1787).  At  this  period,  though  there  was 
much  discussion  as  to  the  merits  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, it  was  adopted,  and  under  it  George  Wash- 
ington was  inaugurated  President  (April  30,  1789). 
There  appears  also  at  this  time  to  have  been  an 
unusual  degree  of  sympathy  between  the  different 
sections  of  the  Union,  but  soon  after  the  inaugura- 
tion differences  arose,  which  will  be  treated  further 
on  in  this  narrative. 

Political  Equality  and  Intelligence. — From 
the  inauguration  of  Washington  onward,  the  United 
States  Government,  in  respect  to  the  management 
of  its  internal  affairs,  holds  a  unique  position  among 


e  INTRODUCTION. 

tho  natiojis  of  Christondoiii.  It  was  tlic  only  one  so 
fill-  ill  ailvanco  of  tlio  times  iis  to  recopfiiize  the  right 
of  voting  to  1)0  in  the  man  himself,  ax  a  man,  and 
not  in  a  property  (juaHtication.  Tiiis  position  2:)lacecl 
nil  voters  on  a  political  equality,  and  endowed  every 
citizen  with  a  dignity  never  before  so  universal,  and 
one  which  the  intelligent  were  able  to  appreciate. 
The  latter,  under  such  circumstances,  became  con- 
scious of  their  own'  responsibility  in  respect  to  the 
management  of  public  afiairs,  which  they  themselves 
by  means  of  their  votes  could  indirectly  influence. 
The  thoughtful  reader  will  infer  from  this  inaugu- 
ration of  political  equality  the  vast  importance  of 
American  voters  being  intelligent  and  able  to  do 
their  own  thinking,  and,  if  occasion  requires,  to  de- 
tect the  misrepresentations  of  unscrupulous  parti- 
sans, who  profess  to  be  laboring  only  for  the  good 
of  the  dear  i)eople. 

Classes  Based  on  Intelligence.— One  hun- 
dred years  ago,  as  is  the  case  to-day,  two  general 
classes  were  found  among  the  American  people — 
the  intelligent  and  the  unintelligent.  On  questions 
of  public  affairs,  political  or  otherwise,  the  intelli- 
gent usually  read  and  think  for  themselves,  and 
though  equally  well-wishing,  they  often  difler  in  their 
opinions  as  to  the  best  mode  of  promoting  the  in- 
terests of  the  people  at  large.  It  is  only  among  the 
citizens  of  superior  general  knowledge  that  political 
parties  originate.  The  less  informed,  from  the  nature 
of  the  case,  are  unable  to  grasp  the  intricacies  of 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

many  of  the  public  questions  that  often  arise,  and 
consequently  they  are  inclined  to  adopt  as  their 
own  the  opinions  of  those  superior  to  them  in  in- 
telligence with  whom  they  come  in  contact.  They 
are,  moreover,  liable  to  become  the  victims  of  de- 
signing partisans  or  demagogues,  who  often  tirst 
create  prejudices  in  their  minds  and  afterward  foster 
the  same  by  misrepresentations,  and  in  this  manner 
secure  the  votes  of  their  dupes.  It  is  sad  to  note 
how  often  in  American  history  unintelligent  but 
well-meaning  citizens  have  been  and  are  influenced 
by  plausible  theorists  to  vote  against  their  own  in- 
terests. The  latter  class,  because  of  their  numbers, 
unfortunately,  holds  the  balance  of  power  in  elec- 
tions between  the  two  main  parties  into  which  the 
more  intelligent  portion  of  the  people  are  divided. 

The  Doctrinaires.— Intelligent  readers  who  for 
the  last  fifteen  years  have  kept  themselves  in  touch 
with  the  policy  of  encouraging  the  various  industries 
of  the  Nation,  have,  no  doubt,  noticed  the  persistent 
putting  forth  of  certain  financial  and  economical 
theories  by  a  class  of  writers,  known  in  the  literary 
world  as  doctrinaires.  They  are  defined  as  those 
"  who  would  apply  to  political  or  practical  concerns, 
the  abstract  doctrines  or  theories  of  their  own  phil- 
osophical systems."  This  class  of  writers,  both 
American  and  English,  have  had,  for  the  most  part, 
no  experience  in  practical  business  affairs.  The  fal- 
lacies of  their  theories,  thus  elaborately  put  forth, 
have  been  pointed  out  again  and  again  by  compe- 
tent writers  and  speakers,  and  who  were  familiar 


S  INTRODUCTION. 

with  tho  conditions  of  our  meclmnical  industries, 
while  they  have  also  been  absolutely  repudiated  by 
practiciU,  level-headed  statesmen.  Notwithstanding 
all  this,  tho  advocates  of  these  theories,  ignoring 
their  perfect  refutations,  continued  to  press  them 
upon  the  attention  of  the  American  people,  as  coolly 
as  if  the  truths  of  their  statements  had  not  even 
been  called  into  question. 

The  I'eader  may  ask,  how  can  this  fact  be  accounted 
for?  The  answer  is  :  Funds  were  furnished  to  bear 
the  expense  of  public  sjjeakers  and  publications,  es- 
pecially during  presidential  canvasses,  by  interested 
parties,  some  of  whom  were  Democratic  free-traders 
and  others  were  foreign  manufacturers  and  exporters 
of  their  products  to  the  United  States.  In  conse- 
quence, the  whole  laud  was  flooded  with  pamphlets 
inculcating  free-trade  notions,  and  which  incessantly 
proclaimed  the  great  blessings  that  would  accrue, 
especially  to  the  "poor  man  ; "  that  is,  to  those  who 
worked  for  wages,  if  the  National  Government  would 
only  put  in  practice  their  theories.  It  is  not  very 
strange,  therefore,  that  the  persistent  reiteration  for 
years,  of  these  theories  and  px-omises  should  have 
influenced  multitudes  of  American  citizens — in  other 
respects  fairly  intelligent — to  entertain  the  impres- 
sion, that  perhaps,  after  all,  there  might  be  some 
truth  in  these  free-trade  notions.  The  result  was 
that  great  numbers  of  wage-earners,  thus  influenced, 
voted  the  Democratic  ticket  in  1892,  and  thus  gave 
the  free-traders  an  opportunity  to  virtually  put  in 
practice  their  theories. 


POLITICAL    PAETIES. 


NEUTRALITY. 

The  Trying  Period,  1789-1801. — It  would  seem, 
when  the  circumstances  are  taken  into  consideration, 
that  the  most  trying  period  of  our  national  existence 
was  the  first  twelve  years.  We  had  just  entered 
upon  the  experiment  of  a  unifoi'm  and  united  goV' 
ernment.  The  Constitution  had  been  adopted  by 
the  requisite  number  of  States,  but  in  some  of  them 
by  a  very  small  majority ;  and  in  consequence  there 
was  a  strong  undercurrent  of  half-expressed  oppo- 
sition, while  many  were  watching  for  defects  in  its 
application  to  the  details  of  government,  and  others 
jmanifested  a  carping  rather  than  a  friendly  spirit. 
In  truth,  the  latter  secretly  expected  it  to  fail,  if 
they  did  not  half  wish  it.  These  leaders  were, 
perhaps,  unconscious  of  the  presumption  in  their  own 
minds  that,  as  their  cherished  theories  had  not  been 
embodied  in  that  instrument,  it  would  fail  in  its 
adaptation  to  the  wants  of  the  people,  which  wants 
they  professed  to  thoroughly  understand.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  difficulties  were  others  ffrowino:  out 


10  POLITICAL   J' ART  IKS. 

of  till-  wars  tlifii  oanit-'d  on  with  Itut  little  intenniH- 
sion  hi'twi'i'ii  tlu'  nations  of  Euroj)i',  during  the 
grenter  ])ortit)n  of  the  eight  years  of  Washington's 
achninistration,  and  also  through  that  of  hissuccessov, 
John  Adams. 

The  government  was  sorely  ])er])lexed  in  dealing 
-rtith  these  eomplieations ;  Washington  himself, 
Viee-Preside!it  Adams,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  and  General  Henry  Knox, 
Secretary  of  AVar,  "sveie  decidedly  in  favor  of  the 
United  States  standing  aloof  from  the  quairels  and 
wars  between  other  nations.  This  policy  of  neu- 
trality, after  careful  deliberation,  was  formally 
adopted,  and  a  proclamation  to  that  effect  was 
issued  by  the  President.  Time  has  shown  the 
wisdom  of  that  decision,  and  we  have  ever  since 
remained  strictly  neutral  under  such  circumstances. 
What  could  have  been  more  ruinous  to  a  nation 
only  a  few  years  old,  and  just  beginning  to  recover 
from  the  evil  effects  of  an  exhausting  war  of  eight 
years,  and  in  addition  weighed  down  by  an  enor- 
mous debt,  than  to  have  taken  part  in  a  general  war 
among  the  nations  of  Europe?  "Washington's 
administration  had  the  hard  task  of  maintaining 
Btatesman-like  steadiness  and  wisdom  in  establishing 
sound  precedents  for  the  details  of  the  government 
under  the  Constitution."  {Prof.  Sumner's  Life  of 
Jackson,  p.  11.) 

The  Clubs. — Birth  of  Democratic  Party. — 
During  these  troublous  times  there  were  numbers  in 
the  United  State8,among  whom  were  a  fewprominent 


NEUTRALITY.  11 

statesmen,  who  were  in  sympathy  with  revohitionary 
and  republican  France,  and  in  favor  of  aiding  that 
power  in  its  conflicts  with  England.  To  promote 
that  object  a  "Democratic  Society"  was  formed  in 
Philadelphia — the  seat  of  the  national  government 
at  that  time.  This  "  Society  "  was  modeled  after 
the  famous  radical  clubs  in  Paris,  known  as  the 
"  Jacobins,"  whose  object  was  to  oppose  the  gov- 
ernment by  secret  measures  and  intrigues  ;  the  ex- 
tremists of  the  revolution,  and  the  factious  minority 
of  the  later  republic.  Such  was  the  oi'igin  of  the 
present  Democratic  Party. 

This  association  was  designed  at  the  time  to  op- 
pose Washington's  administration  in  its  policy  of 
neutrality  in  respect  to  the  wars  then  raging  in 
Europe.  In  order  to  accomplish  the  object  more 
fully,  aftiliated  societies  were  formed  throughout 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania  and  also  in  other  States, 
(Ilildreth,  V.  S.  IV.  pp.  424,  503 ;  Irving'' s  Wash, 
ingtou^  II.  p.  708 ;  PattotHs  American  People.,  p. 
583). 

The  formation  of  these  associations — variously 
called  "  Republican  "  or  "  Democratic  " — attracted 
the  attention  of  the  Parisian  clubs,  and  "  The  Society 
of  Charleston,  S.  Carolina,  on  its  own  application, 
was  recognized  by  the  Jacobin  Club  of  Paris  as  an 
affiliated  branch." 

Within  these  clubs  the  turbulent  men  of  the  time 
found  congenial  quarters.  At  first  many  well  mean- 
ing citizens  sympathized  with  Republican  France  in 
what  was  deemed  her  struggle  for  liberty  ;  but  ber 


12  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

tcniliK'  alnu-iticssoon  cost  licrinanvof  tlicso  friends, 
vet  for  tln'sc  excesses  tlie  extremists  in  tlie  eluh.s 
fouml  Mpologies.  ,Says  Prof.  Sumner,  (f/ttckson,  1>.11), 
— "  'I'lie  Ivejtnbliean  (Demoeratic)  J)arty  in  ITUO,  was 
iillid  wiili  ill-informetl  and  ill-regulated  sympathy 
for  the  French  Revolutionists,  and  if  it  could  have 
had  its  way,  it  would,  under  the  lead  of  refugee 
editors,  filled  with  rancor  and  ignorant  zeal,  have 
committed  the  Ignited  States  to  close  relations  with 
France,  and  hy  iin])orting  Jacobinism  into  this  coun- 
try, have  overthrown  constitutional  liberty  here." 
On  this  same  ])oint  says  Von  Ilolst — (ConsttHitional 
Jlisf.,  I.  J).  107), — "The  French  Revolution  intro- 
duced from  abroad  an  element  which  kept  uj)  ex- 
citement during  many  years  at  the  boiling  point ;  " 
and  "The  farther  France  ])roceeded, by  the  ado])tion 
of  l)i-utal  measures,  the  more  rank  was  the  growth 
in  the  United  States  of  the  most  radical  teaching; 
and  the  more  attentively  the  legislators  of  France 
listened  to  the  fierce  cry  for  blood,  the  more  boldly 
did  demagogism,  in  its  most  repulsive  form,  rage  in 
the  United  States." 

Policy  ofWashing'ton. — It  is  proper  to  notice 
here  the  difiiculties  of  the  situation  at  that  time. 
Discussions  arose  in  Congress  in  respect  to  our  re- 
lations with  foreign  countries,  especially  on  the 
complaints  of  our  merchants  that  their  ships  were 
ca))tnred  by  the  belligerents  of  Europe — by  the 
cruisers  of  both  France  and  England.  The  Demo- 
cratic clubs,  taking  their  cue  from  their  patron, 
Jefferson,    avIio  had    returiied  from  France  where 


NEUTRALITY.  13 

he  had  beou  our  Minister,  and  who  was  deej)ly  imbued 
with  French  radicalism,  were  ardent  partisans  of 
"  The  Great  Republic,"  and  were  inclined  to  connive 
at  her  harsh  treatment  of  our  merchant  marine,  and 
had  equally  strong  prejudices  against  England,  for 
whom  they  tolerated  no  excuse.  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  President  Washington  and  his  cabinet, 
with  the  exception  of  Jefferson,  desired  to  be  strictly 
neutral  in  respect  to  the  European  belligei-ents ; 
deeming  it  madness  for  our  nation  to  join  in  an 
alliance  with  either  of  the  parties,  and  thus  expose 
still  more  to  the  hazards  of  war  our  merchant  ves- 
.sels,  which,  at  the  time,  had  much  the  greater  share 
of  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world.  Belonging  to  a 
neutral  nation — though  often  interfered  with  by  the 
cruisers  of  the  belligerents — they  managed  not 
only  to  carry  merchandise  for  the  F'rench  and  Eng- 
glish,  but  to  supply  Germany  and  Russia  with 
manufactured  goods  and  raw  material.  It  must 
not  be  inferred  that  Washington  and  the  Federal 
party  did  not  sympathize  with  France  in  a  struggle 
for  genuine  liberty  as  they  understood  it ;  but  she 
had  passed  far  beyond  that  into  anarchy  and  trucu- 
lent bloodshed,  the  most  terrible  told  in  history — • 
with  that  they  did  not  symjjathize.  The  turbulent 
portion  of  the  clubs  continued  untiring  in  efforts  to 
accomplish  their  ends,  and  sometimes  adopted 
measures  that  the  well-meaning  deprecated;  but 
still  many  of  the  latter  remained  members  and 
were  pointed  out  as  leaders  when  they  were  only 
figure-heads  ;  the  turbuleuts  being  the  ruling  spirits. 


14  roi.lTlVM.    PARTIKS. 

Tlu'  rosj»ectal»U's  iniMly  protosti'd,  Imt  did  not 
openly  condonin,  and  thus  virtually  tlircw  their  in- 
fluenoe  in  favor  of  these  ohjeetionahle  actions. 

A.  Secret  Influence. — Thomas  Jefferson,  though 
at  the  time  a  member  of  the  eabinet  as  Secretary  of 
State,  exercised  his  influence  against  the  policy  of 
neutrality  in  an  underhand  and  secret  manner, 
characterizing  it  in  his  j)rivate  letters  as  "  sneaking 
neutrality."  In  virtue  of  his  office,  he  held  frequent 
intercourse  with  the  French  minister,  "  Citizen" 
Genet,  but  in  a  ])eculiar  manner — a  sort  of  diplo- 
matic flirtation,  leading  the  latter  to  believe,  as  he 
alleged,  that  Jefferson  was  in  favor  of  giving  France 
material  aid  in  her  contest  with  England.  But 
when  the  policy  of  neutrality  became  popular, 
Jefferson  changed  his  course,  and  treated  the 
French  Minister  in  a  manner  which  caused  the 
latter  to  charge  him  with  double  dealing  ;  after  pre- 
tending to  be  his  friend,  with  "  having  an  official 
language,  and  a  language  contidential."  {Ilildreth, 
IV.  p.  435.)  IIow  different  would  have  been  the 
position  of  the  United  States,  if  the  policy  desired 
by  Jefferson  and  his  followers  had  been  carried  out ! 
We  should  have  become  embroiled  in  European 
wars  and  complications,  and  who  can  tell  when  or 
where  these  entanglements  would  have  ended  ? 
Certainly,  under  such  conditions,  the  damages  to  the 
nation  would  have  been  exceedingly  great. 

This  decision  in  respect  to  neutrality  was  the 
first  instance  in  which  the  newly  organized  govern- 
ment declared  its  i)olicy  as  an  independent  and  self- 


NEUTRALITY.  15 

respecting  nation  ;  and  George  Wasliington  stands 
forth  grandly,  wlien  he  demands  for  the  United 
States  an  honored  position  among  the  nations  of  the 
world — the  spirit  of  colonial  dependence  now  van- 
ishtd  forever. 

Change  of  Front. — Some  ten  years  afterward,  on 
becoming  President,  Jefferson  in  his  inaugural  ap- 
proved the  policy  of  neutrality,  and  in  a  neat  for- 
mula announced  it  as  follows  :  "  Honest  friendship 
with  all  nations — entangling  alliances  with  none." 
(^Mandairs  Jefferson.,  II.,  p.  632.)  Not  a  reference 
was  made  to  what  Washington  and  Adams  had 
done  in  sustaining  the  dignity  of  the  nation,  but  an 
assumjjtion  of  the  policy  as  his  own  ;  and  his  admir- 
ers have  quoted  these  words  ever  since  as  one  of 
the  fundamentals  of  their  political  faith,  while  they 
as  an  organization  opposed  neutrality,  until  its  man- 
ifest advantages  overcame  all  opposition,  and  be- 
came popular. 

It  is  very  noticeable  throughout  American  history, 
in  how  rtiany  instances  this  political  organization 
has  opposed  measures  which  by  their  excellence 
have  sizice  received  the  sanction  of  leading  minds 
among  the  people,  and  in  consequence  become  the 
fixed  policy  of  the  National  government. 

Another  instance  in  which  the  same  influences 
were  exerted  against  Washington's  administration, 
was  in  relation  to  Jay's,  or  the  second  treaty  with 
England;  {Pattori's  American  People,  p.  587.) 
space  forbids  our  going  into  detail.  Says  Professor 
Sumner : — "  Jay's  Treaty  was  a  masterpiece  of  di- 


H'.  rn/.iT/cA/.  j'A/rrih'S. 

jtldiiKU'V,  (Miisidcriii^  tlu-  time  and  tlu'  circiiiiistaurcs 
of  tliis  country.  Those  wlio  oltjccted  t<>  it  coiihl 
])ro]tos('  nolliini;  l>ut  a  jiolicy  of  bluster,  wliicli  the 
country  was  not  jtrcpari'd  (o  follow  u]>,  or  the  inibe- 
cile  device  of  a  conunercial  war."  A^ain,  "  Washinjj;- 
ton  succeeded  in  maintaining  neutrality  by  this 
treaty,  but  at  the  cost  of  bitter  hostility  at  home." 
When,  in  consequence  of  these  and  other  objection- 
able doings  of  the  clubs,  Washington  thought  proper 
to  refer  to  them  because  of  their  violence,  Jeffer- 
son wrote  tliat  it  was  "  wonderful  indeed  that  tlie 
President  should  have  permitted  himself  to  be  the 
organ  of  such  attack  on  the  freedom  of  discussion, 
the  freedom  of  writing,  printing  and  j)ul)lishing."  He 
continues,  and  fears  lest  the  "  honest  and  political 
erroi's  "  of  Washington  might  cause  the  people  to 
exclaim,  "  Curse  on  his  virtues  ! — they  have  undone 
tlie  country."  {Morse's  Jefferson.^  It  is  remark- 
able that  the  principles  involved  in  these  "political 
errors"  of  George  Washington  have  become  the 
political  truisms  of  our  land. 

Thus  during  the  first  three  Presidential  terms 
the  machinery  of  the  National  government  was 
adjusted  and  put  in  motion,  and  for  sixty  years — 
till  the  Rebellion — it  moved  on  seemingly  without 
friction.  The  people,  temperate,  industrious  and 
economical,  secured  unprecedented  material  suc- 
cess, and  that  iu  spite  of  drawbacks,  caused,  often, 
by  injudicious  legislation,  which  affected  their 
finances  and  their  industrial  interests. 


II. 

GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  GOVERNED. 

Democracy  and  Demagogism.— The  aphorism, 
"  The  workl  is  governed  too  much,"  had  its  origin 
in  the  theories  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  In  his  Life  by- 
Morse,  he  is  quoted  (pp.  90,  91),  when  writing  of 
Shay's  rebellion  in  Massachusetts  in  1786.  "  A  little 
rebellion  now  and  then  is  a  good  thing : . . .  An  obser- 
vation of  this  truth  should  render  honest  Republican 
governors  so  mild  in  their  jiunishment  of  rebellions 
as  not  to  discourage  them  too  much." — "It  is  a 
medicine  necessary  for  the  sound  health  of  govern- 
ment." Again,  "God  forbid  we  should  ever  be 
twenty  years  without  such  a  rebellion. . . .  What  sig- 
nify a  few  lives  lost  in  a  century  or  two  ?  The  tree 
of  liberty  must  be  refreshed  from  time  to  time  with 
the  blood  of  patriots  and  tyrants.  It  is  its  natural 
manure."  If  the  writer  of  this  had  had  a  prophet's 
vision  of  the  terrible  scenes  enacted  (in  1861-1865) 
in  a  rebellion,  which  was  the  legitimate,  though  ex- 
treme outgrowth  of  his  own  doctrine  of  State  Sov- 
ereignty, and  of  the  principles  of  the  famous  Reso- 
lutions of  1798  (p.  34),  instead  of  rejoicing  he  would 
have  recoiled  from  the  sight  in  horror ;  for  he  was 
a  man,  kind  and  humane. 

Still  further  (1787),   "The  basis  of  our  govern- 


IS  POLITICAL   PART  IKS. 

luonts,  hoijiiLj  the  opinion  of  the  pcoplo,  the  very 
tirst  oltjert  should  be  to  keej)  that  right  ;  were  it 
left  to  me  to  decide  whether  we  have  a  government 
without  news]ia]>ers,  or  news|)ai)ers  without  a  gov- 
ernment, I  sliould  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  prefer 
the  hitter."'  Intelligent  j)eople  would  repudiate 
such  sentiments,  both  on  the  ground  of  their  absur- 
dity, and  of  their  innate  evil  to  the  community  at 
large.  He  illustrates  still  further,  saying,  "So- 
cieties  exist  under  three  forms  :  1.  Without  govern- 
ment, as  among  our  Indians.  2.  Under  govern- 
ments, wherein  the  will  of  every  one  has  a  just  in- 
Huence.  3.  Under  governments  of  force.  It  is  a 
problem  not  clear  in  my  mind,  that  the^rs^  condi- 
tion is  not  the  best."  Is  it  strange  that  under  such 
teachings  and  influence  the  disorderly  elements  of 
society  gravitate  toward  a  political  organization 
which  reverences  the  author  of  such  sentiments  al- 
most as  a  demigod,  and  whose  leaders  use  his  name 
as  a  talisman?  It  may  be  said  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  Democracy  do  not  read  these  sentiments  of  Jef- 
ferson ;  yet  they  are  under  the  influence  of  leaders 
who  are  imbued  with  his  political  theories,  unless 
they  belie  their  professions,  when  they  celebrate  his 
birthday,  and  extol  him  as  preeminently  the  great- 
est statesman  this  nation  has  produced,  and  as  such, 
demand  for  him  the  homage  of  their  followers. 
Says  Professor  Von  Hoist,  already  quoted  on  this 
period  of  our  history  :  "  The  philosophical  reveries 
about  the  goodness  of  human  nature  in  the  abstract, 
had  developed  in  the  concrete  (or  practice)  in  such 


GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  GOVERNED.       19 

manner  that  nine-tenths  of  the  worst  elements  of  so- 
ciety were  the  promoters  of  that  party  who  proclaim 
that  the  '  world  is  governed  too  much  ' ;  they  dislike 
wholesome  restraint."  Again :  "  From  the  time 
that  the  blessings  of  the  Constitution  began  to  be 
felt,  the  lower  strata  of  the  population  of  the  larger 
cities  commenced  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  Anti- 
Federalists."  "  Sounding  phrases  and  all  the  arts 
of  the  demagoffue  could  here  be  made  use  of  with 
the  greatest  success."  (Vol.  I.  p.  124.) 

Insurrection  Encouraged. — The  whiskey  insur- 
rection in  Western  Pennsylvania  (179-4),  was  for  a 
time  a  great  boon  to  the  opponents  of  Washington's 
administration  (Patt07i's  Americcm  People,  I.,  585- 
587).  The  Democratic  clubs  by  indirect  means  en- 
couraged these  insurgents ;  first  they  foimd  fault 
with  the  government  for  taking  measures  to  sup- 
press the  rebellion,  though  it  had  been  in  existence 
more  than  a  year  ;  then  they  proclaimed  that  it  was 
too  strong  to  be  put  down,  meanwhile  asserting 
that  the  insurgents  numbered  16,000  men ;  this 
latter  statement  v/as  designed  to  have  influence 
with  the  militia,  who  were  liable  to  be  called  out  to 
quell  the  insurrection.  But  the  government,  not- 
withstanding, raised  an  army  of  15,000  men.  This 
was  judicious,  as  thus  the  shedding  of  blood  was 
prevented,  for  all  hope  of  resisting  so  large  a  force 
vanished ;  and  as  soon  as  this  army  crossed  the 
mountains  the  insurgent  leaders  fled  the  country, 
and  their  deluded  followers  at  once  submitted. 
Now  the  opiJOsUH>Q  raised  the  cry  that  all  this  was 


20  POLITIC  A  J    r  Mi  TIES. 

:m  unnoecssary  expcnso,  and  that  the  poor  jKople 
wouhl  in  consoqiUMico  bo  hunlone*!  witli  taxes. 

Jot'forson's  evident  synipatliy  with  the  whiskey 
insurreetionists  was  consistent  Mith  wliat  he  wrote 
in  relation  to  Shay's  rebellion  just  quoted,  and  with 
his  views  of  "  too  much  government."  In 
his  private  letters  he  chuckled  over  an  absurd 
story  "  that  one  thousand  men  could  have  cut  off 
their  whole  force  in  a  thousand  ])laces  in  the  Alle- 
ghenies  ;  "  and  "  that  though  the  people  let  them 
pass  quietly,  they  were  objects  of  their  laughter, 
not  of  their  fear."  (  Works,  IX.,  p.  112.)  "Washing- 
ton himself  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  members 
of  the  clubs  encouraged  this  outbreak.  The  more 
violent  evidently  favored  the  insurrection,  though 
the  more  moderate  deprecated  extreme  measures. 
The  protests  of  the  latter  had,  however,  little  in- 
fluence, as  the  protestors  remained  in  the  societies, 
some  even  as  officers,  thus  imparting  a  certain  kind 
of  respectability  to  the  more  turbulent. 

From  this  time  forth  the  terra  "  Democratic,"  be- 
came prominently  know^n  in  American  politics. 
The  idtras  of  the  party  assumed  the  name — they 
being  the  most  bitter  opponents  of  the  general 
policy  of  Washington's  administration — while  the 
more  moderate  adopted  the  term  "  Democratic- 
Republican,"  which  name  they  sometimes  have 
since  taken.  Jefferson  preferred  the  simple  tenii 
"Republican,"  that  being  the  designation  iised  in 
France. 

Aristocrat  and  Democrat. — In  order  to  secure 


GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  GOVERNED        21 

more  fully  their  ends,  the  leaders  in  these  societies 
endeavored  to  array  one  portion  of  the  community 
against  another.  Those  who  were  in  favor  of 
neutrality  they  characterized  as  Aristocrats  ;  every 
lover  of  order  or  sujjporter  of  the  national  govern- 
ment was  denounced  as  such,  and  as  an  enemy  of 
the  "  ])oor  man,"  a  favorer  of  the  hated  aristocratic 
England  and  not  of  democratic  France.  It  has 
been  the  policy  of  the  leaders  of  that  j^olitical 
organization  from  that  day  to  this,  to  proclaim 
themselves  preeminently  the  friends  of  the  "  poor 
man,"  as  they  affectionately  designate  those  who 
obtain  a  living  by  working  in  any  form  for  wages, 
but  more  especially  those  engaged  in  manual  labor 
or  as  employees  in  manufacturing  establishments. 
They  imply  at  the  same  time  that  the  men  of 
wealth  or  capitalists — in  a  word  those  who  employ 
workpeople — are  the  enemies  of  the  latter. 

The  epithets  which  they  then  used  had  a  meaning 
and  a  purpose,  as  we  shall  see  in  respect  to  similar 
terms  employed  throughout  this  narrative.  The  term 
aristocrat  in  that  day  had  a  peculiarly  unjioisular 
significance,  and  was  designed  to  excite  prejudice 
against  those  who  were  in  favor  of  "Washington's 
policy.  By  this  term  they  meant  to  imply  that  the 
advocates  of  neutrality  were  imitators  of  the  English 
aristocracy,  who  had  been  the  bitterest  foes  of  the 
colonists  in  their  recent  struggle  for  independence, 
while  France  aided  them.  The  offensive  epithet 
was  seized  upon  and  used  to  rouse  a  prejudice  against 
the  more  educated  and  well-to-do  in  the  community. 


'2-2  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

The  Poor  Man's  Friend. — Wliilo  leaders  of  the 
DonuK'r.'U'v  from  (hat  tiiiie  to  this  have  never  ceased 
tt»  prochiiin  thfiiiscl\ cs  the  special  friends  of  the 
"  poor  man  "  or  of  those  employed  by  others,  yet  tho 
influence  of  that  ]>arty's  measures — both  negative 
and  positive — shows  it  to  have  discriminated,  let  us 
hope  unwittingly,  ntjaiiiKt  the  interests  of  that  por- 
tion of  the  people,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  its  acts  and 
not  by  its  words.  This  statement  is  i)roved  to  be 
correct  wlien  history  tells  in  what  manner  the  inter- 
ests of  those  who  worked  for  wages  have  been  af- 
fected favorably  by  the  national  measures  which 
these  leaders  opposed^  and  i?)Juriousli/  by  the  meas- 
ures which  they  themselves  introduced.  The  class 
of  persons  whose  only  support  is  from  their  wages 
is  the  largest  in  the  community — estimated  by  polit- 
ical economists  at  thi-ce-fourths  of  the  adult  popu- 
lation, and  it  will  be  ever  so  from  the  nature  of  the 
case.  To  secure  the  good  will  of  this  large  class 
these  leaders  have  labored  incessantly.  One  of  their 
most  influential  means  has  been  to  infuse  distrust 
of  employers  among  those  employed.  The  result  is 
one  of  the  facts  which  we  characterize  as  notorious  / 
it  is  well  known  that  the  unintelligent  of  those  who 
live  by  wages,  and  the  unskilled  laborers,  especially 
those  of  foreign  extraction,  are  nearly  all  hostile  in 
politics  to  their  employers.  This  unfortunate  antag- 
onism between  different  classes  of  the  community 
in  our  country — commencing  shortly  after  our  Rev- 
olution— is  due  to  influences  described  above,  exerted 
systematically  from  that  time  to  this.   The  employed 


GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  GOVERNED.       23 

are  induced  to  believe  that  in  some  indefinable  way 
their  own  interests  are  not  interwoven  with  those 
of  their  employers.  This  feeling  has  been  induced 
by  the  continual  reiteration  that  the  poor  or  labor- 
ing man  was  the  special  protege  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Democracy,  and  to  befriend  him  was  to  it  a  la- 
bor of  love,  at  the  same  time  broadly  intimating 
that  those  who  employed  him  had  no  friendly  inter- 
est in  his  welfare.  In  testimony  of  this  see  numer- 
ous platforms  of  the  party — both  National  and  State 
— put  forth  in  years  gone  by. 

Republican  Simplicity. — In  the  oarlydays  of  the 
government,  when  customs  and  ceremonies  were  in 
a  state  of  transition  from  the  courtly  to  the  more 
plain  rejiublican  style,  much  was  said  and  written 
in  deprecation  of  the  forms  or  ceremonies  practised 
at  the  official  receptions  of  the  first  and  second 
presidents.  We  of  this  day  are  certainly  unable, 
from  our  standpoint,  to  conceive  of  the  violence  of 
the  social  tem2)est  which  is  said  to  have  been  roused 
at  that  time.  The  extremists  among  the  Democracy 
proclaimed  that  these  receptions,  conducted  in  this 
formal  manner,  were  aping  similar  ceremonies  at 
the  English  court,  and  broadly  intimated  that  there 
was  perhaps  in  these  things  a  lurking  design  upon 
the  liberties  of  the  people  !  Eventually  these  ultra 
notions  on  both  sides  neutralized  each  other,  and  as  a 
result  of  the  agitation  was  brought  about  the  com- 
mon-sense custom  among  the  people  of  leaving  with- 
out much  comment  such  ceremonies — plain  or  osten- 
tatious— to  regulate  themselves  in  accordance  with 


24  POI.ITJCAL    PARTJES. 

\\\v  scnst'  of  ))r(>]tr*K'ly  jxTvadinjj;  the  Wliite  ITouso. 

Tlu'  ]):in(loiini;  to  tlu'  viil<;ar  instincts  of  the 
iiriionmt,  liowi'vor,  wliicli  \v:is  illiist ratctl  in  the 
foit'i^oini;  acts,  was  a  dclihcratc  policy  from  the 
outset,  nor  has  it  yet  disapjteared.  Later,  when 
Jefferson  was  about  to  assume  the  ofHce  of  presi- 
dent, he  intimated  that  he  would  have  no  special 
ceremony  at  liis  inauguration.  lie  kei)t  his  own 
counsel ;  when  the  hour  arrived,  he  quietly  rode  up 
to  the  Cai)ito],  tied  his  horse  to  a  post,  went  in,  and 
took  the  oath  of  office  at  the  hands  of  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
Tliis  ])hase  of  simplicity  has  never  been  imitated  by 
any  succeeding  president. 

In  carrying  out  his  assumed  role,  Jefferson  went 
still  further,  and  compromised  himself  as  well  as  the 
nation  over  mIucIi  he  presided.  The  circumstances 
were  these  :  according  to  the  account  given  by  Mr. 
Merry,  the  British  minister,  of  an  interview  to  Avhich 
he  was  accompanied  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
James  Madison,  whose  duty  it  was  to  introduce 
the  minister  to  the  newly  inaugurated  ])resident, 
he  says:  "Mr.  Jefferson's  appearance  soon  ex- 
plained to  me  that  the  general  circumstances  of  my 
reception  had  not  been  accidental  but  studied." 
He  was  "not  merely  in  undress,  but  actually  stand- 
ing in  slippers  down  at  the  heels,  and  both  panta- 
loons, coat,  and  under-clothes  indicative  of  utter 
slovenliness  and  indifference  to  ajipearances,  and  in 
a  state  of  negligence  actually  studied."  This  oc- 
curred at  an  hour  which  Jefferson  himself  had  ap- 


GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  GOVERNED.       25 

pointed  for  his  first  reception  of  the  British  minister, 
who  came  in  his  "  official  costume."  Sucli  manifesta- 
tion of  discourtesy  might  have  been  for  two  reasons, 
one  to  gratify  the  less  intelligent  members  of  his 
political  adherents,  and  the  other  to  treat  with 
disrespect  the  minister  of  that  country  which  he 
personally  disliked.  Jefferson's  social  training  for- 
bade his  doing  such  things  without  a  plan  and  a 
motive.  The  British  minister  said  and  believed 
that  the  scene  was  prepared  "  as  an  insult  to  the  sov- 
ereign whom  he  represented." 


III. 

FINAXCE  AND  COMMERCE. 

The  Second  Mistake. — When  the  clubs  and  their 
promoters  had  failed  to  prevent  neutrality  being 
fully  and  fairly  carried  out,  they  next  directed  their 
opposition  against  the  financial  measures  designed 
by  the  general  government  to  liquidate  the  Nation's 
debt.  This  debt  was  originally  in  the  form  of 
"^  certificates  or  notes  of  obligation  to  pay  for  value 
received ; "  the  latter  had  been  issued  both  l)y  the 
Continental  Congress  and  the  States  during  the  war 
for  independence,  and  in  addition  was  a  foreign 
debt  for  money  borrowed  from  friendly  nations  in 
Euro})e.  These  various  obligations  were  assumed 
by  the  United  States  Government  when  it  went  into 
operation.  The  Anti-Federalist  or  Democratic  party 
bitterly  op])osed  the  National  government's  assimi- 
ing  and  paying  these  debts,  thus  contracted  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  people.  This  opposition  came 
mostly  from  the  Southern  States,  and  the  reason 
given  was  that  much  of  the  debt  Avas  not  in  the 
hands  of  the  original  owners,  the  latter  having,  it 
was  said,  disposed  of  it  at  a  large  discount.  This 
was  true  to  a  certain  extent ;  but  the  debt  was  a  debt, 
nevertheless. 

Impor*"  Duties. — Alexander  Hamilton,  Secretary 


FINANCE  AND   COMMERCE.  27 

the  Treasury,  made  a  report  to  the  first  Congress  at 
its  second  session  on  the  financial  measures  neces- 
sary to  meet  these  demands.  This  report,  because 
of  its  Uisting  influence,  is  the  most  important  in  our 
annals.  He  recommended  an  indirect  tax  by  impos- 
ing duties  on  imported  merchandise,  in  order  that 
that  class  of  property,  as  well  as  real  estate,  should 
bear  its  proportion  of  the  public  burdens.  His  de- 
sign was  also  to  equalize  the  expense  in  the  produc- 
tion of  manufactured  goods,  so  that  our  own  work- 
^)eople  might  be  able  to  compete  with  the  low 
wages  paid  in  Europe,  and  with  the  acquired  skill 
of  centuries.  The  finances  of  the  country  at  that 
time  were  in  a  deplorable  condition.  "From  1783 
to  1789  the  trade  of  the  thirteen  old  States  was 
j)erfectly  free  to  the  whole  world.  The  result  Avas 
that  Great  Britain  filled  every  section  of  our  country 
with  her  manufactures  of  wool,  cotton,  linen,  leather, 
iron,  glass,  and  all  other  articles  used  here ;  and  in 
four  years  she  swept  from  the  country  every  dollar, 
and  every  piece  of  gold."  (^olles^s  Financial  Hist, 
of  U.  S.,  II.  p.  437.)  This  was  our  first  and  only 
experiment  in  absolute  Free  Trade.  It  is  easy  there- 
fore to  divine  the  reason  for  the  following  explana^ 
tory  statement  in  the  preamble  to  our  first  National 
tariff,  which  was  passed  by  Congress  and  signed  by 
George  Washington  in  1789  :  "  For  the  support  of 
the  Government,  and  for  the  encouragement  and  pro- 
tection  of  domestic  manufactures." 

United  States  Bank. — Hamilton  likewise  recom- 
mended a  National  Bank  to  facilitate  exchange,  and 


28  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

to  increase  its  usefulness,  tliat  it  iiave  branches  in  the 
States,  should  tlie  itcoj)le  so  desire.  The  first  Con- 
gress thoroughly  discussed  these  })ropositions,  and 
in  its  second  session  passed  laws  in  accordance  with 
their  main  features.  The  bank  had  a  charter  for 
twenty  years,  thus  giving  for  that  length  of  time 
ome  assurance  of  stability  in  business  ;  its  bills  being 
payable  in  coin  on  demand,  raised  the  credit  of  the 
government  and  inspired  confidence  in  commercial 
circles.  Industry  received  a  new  impulse  and  the 
whole  country  bounded  forth  as  one  man  in  energy 
and  enterprise.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  these 
measures,  which  proved  so  beneficial  to  the  whole 
nation,  were  bitterly  opposed  by  the  then  Democratic 
organization,  thus  affording,  as  in  the  case  of  neutral- 
ity, an  instance  in  which  they  desperately  fought 
against  measures  that  have,  from  their  own  inherent 
excellence  and  adaptation,  become  the  fixed  policy 
of  the  land.  {Patton^s  American  People,  pp.  577, 
581.) 

Jefferson's  Chinese  Policy. — The  reason  why 
Jefferson  duringhisadministrationopposed  the  policy 
of  defending  the  commerce  of  the  country,  was  to  be 
found  in  his  contracted  views  of  what  constitutes  a 
prosperous  nation.  He  appeared  to  deem  property 
owned  in  commerce,  such  as  ships  and  the  benefits  de- 
rived from  trade,  as  less  valuable  than  that  belonging 
to  the  planter  or  farmer.  He  M'ished  the  United 
States,  as  he  expressed  it,  to  engage  in  neither  com- 
merce nor  navigation,  but  stand  in  respect  to  Europe 
«s  China  did  to  the  ---ac  of  the  world  ;  that  is,  to  be 


I 


FINANCE  AND  COMMERCE.  29 

isolated  from  all  other  nations.  He  had  but  little 
sympathy  with  those  who  engaged  in  manufacturing, 
except  of  articles  of  the  simplest  forms,  and  that  only 
for  home  consumption.  In  truth,  this  school  of 
statesmen  had  very  inadequate  conceptions  of  the 
elements  that  constitute  a  nation,  perfect  in  all  its 
component  parts,  such  as  the  diversities  of  industry 
— mechanical,  commercial  and  agricultural — which 
are  the  outgrowth  of  differences  of  climate  or 
arising  from  variety  of  location.  It  is  certainly  not 
the  Divine  order,  that  nations  should  be  isolated 
from  one  another,  if  the  world  is  to  advance  toward 
a  complete  Christianized  civilization. 

Disregard  of  Commerce. — Thus  it  was  the  prac- 
tice of  Jefferson  and  his  school  to  give  little  protec- 
tion on  the  ocean  to  the  vast  amount  of  property  en- 
gaged in  commerce,  and  owned  in  one  portion  of 
the  Union,  but  to  permit  the  foreign  trade  of  the 
Nation  to  be  virtually  destroyed  by  belligerent 
cruisers,  when  it  was  as  truly  property,  and  ought 
to  have  been  held  as  sacred,  as  either  cotton  or  to- 
bacco. In  consequence  of  these  limited  views  he 
was  opposed  to  maintaining  a  navy  or  having  for- 
eign commerce,  while  his  notions  about  our  being 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  world  had  influence 
upon  his  policy  to  diminish  our  intercourse  with 
other  nations.  Presidents  Jefferson  and  Madison 
being  Southern  country  gentlemen,  did  not  fully 
value  the  importance  of  commerce  and  the  mechan- 
ical industries  of  the  land,  and  while  comprehensive 
in  their  abstract  theories  of  government,  they  both 


30  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

failed  ill  i)r:u-tic'e'  ;  cither  because  of  their  lack  oi 
interest  or  tlieir  disregard  of  the  wants  of  those 
who  lived  in  a  region  less  fertile,  but  having  a  more 
dense  and  intelligent  pojjulation,  and  other  facilities 
for  manufacturing,  and  in  addition  nearer  the  sea- 
board, so  that  a  large  number  could  engage  profit- 
ablv  in  commerce. 

State  Rights. — Jefferson's  idea  of  isolation  from 
all  the  world,  like  the  Chinese  of  that  day,  was  analo- 
gous to  his  view  of  State  Rights  ;  so  different  from 
that  of  Madison,  who  held  in  substance  that  the 
States  under  the  United  States  government,  were 
great  municipalities  analogous  to  that  of  cities  un. 
der  State  governments.  In  the  convention  that 
formed  the  United  States  Constitution,  Madison 
said :  "  The  States  never  possessed  the  essential  right 
of  sovereignty,"  and  Washington  said  :  "  It  is  only 
in  our  united  character  that  we  are  known  as  an 
empire  ;  that  our  independence  is  acknowledged." 
We  all  believe  in  State  Rights  ;  but  not  in  State 
Sovereignty, that  extreme  \aew  which  would  disinteg- 
rate the  nation,  and  put  the  individual  States  above 
the  Union,  or  make  them  all  entirely  independent  of 
each  other.  Statesmen  holding  such  limited  views 
became  narrow  in  their  conceptions  of  the  true 
elements  constituting  a  nation.  They  are  inclined 
to  become  selfish  in  a  State  or  sectional  point  of 
v-iew  ;  we  see  this  cropping  out  all  along  our  history. 


IV. 

ALIEN  AND  SEDITION  ACTS. 

Vice-PresidentJefferson.— We  have  already  seen 
that  refugees  fleeing  from  anarchy  and  bloodshed  in 
France  came  to  this  country,  and  in  their  oppo- 
sition under  the  leadership  of  "  Citizen"  Genet  much 
annoyed  Washington  in  his  endeavor  to  preserve 
neutrality.  Later  (1797)  during  the  administration 
of  John  Adams,  they  became  more  bold  and  inso- 
lent in  manifesting  their  contempt  for  the  United 
States  government.  There  were  obvious  reasons 
for  these  impertinent  demonstrations — Jefferson 
was  now  vice-president,  and  hostile  to  the  adminis- 
tration, though  holding  in  it  an  official  position. 
This  anomaly  occurred  because  at  that  time,  of  the 
candidates  for  the  presidency,  the  one  receiving  the 
greatest  number  of  votes  was  declared  president, 
and  the  one  receiving  the  next  highest  number,  vice- 
president.  John  Adams  was  the  "  Federal  "  candi- 
date, and  Thomas  Jefferson  the  "Republican  or 
Democratic ;  "  thus  the  vice-president  became  the 
virtual  leader  of  the  opposition.  The  mode  of  elect- 
ing these  two  officers  of  the  government  has  since 
been  changed,  [  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
Arts.  II  and  XII.],  and  now  the  president  and  vice- 
president  are  members  of  the  same  political  organiza- 
tion or  party,  as  of  course  they  should  be. 


;]'2  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

.TcrfiTson,  hccaiisc  of  liis  jxisition,  Avns  the  more 
iiifliifiitial  in  stimulating  tliu  malcontents  by  means 
of  his  jtrivate  letters,  Avhile  abuse,  equally  scurrilous 
with  that  headed  upon  the  first  ])resident,  and  by 
the  same  class  of  men,  Avas  meted  out  to  John 
Atlams  ami  his  administration  by  newspajiers  whose 
editors  were  foreigners,  one  of  whom — Freneau,  the 
slanderer  of  Washington — was  a  special  protege  of 
the  vice-president  and  others.  "  Time  has  not 
washed  out  the  stain  of  his  Mr.  Jefferson's  intimacy 
with  William  Duane,  the  editor  of  the  infamous 
"  Aurora  " — so  abusive  of  John  Adams  and  his  ad- 
ministration, (/Stece?is''s  Gallatin,  p  290).  The 
means  thus  used  to  influence  and  poison  the  minds 
of  the  people  had  to  be  counteracted.  To-day,  we 
are  unable  to  appreciate  fully  to  what  extent  the 
hospitality  of  the  nation  was  abused  by  many  of 
these  refugees  ;  and  yet  they  never  would  have 
dared  insult  the  Xational  authority,  had  they  not 
been  encouraged  and  aided  by  the  native  opponents 
of  the  jiolicy  of  the  administration  with  the  conni- 
vance and  secret  aid  of  the  vice-president. 

The  Plots  of  Aliens. — A  brief  summary  of  what 
these  exiles  or  refugees  attempted  may  afford  a  clue 
to  the  reasons  which  induced  Congress  to  enact  the 
two  laws  mentioned  at  the  head  of  this  section. 
The  refugees  had  been  increasing  in  numbers  from 
year  to  year,  so  that  at  this  time  it  -was  estimated 
there  were  more  than  20,000  in  the  United  States. 
They  w^ere  all  opposed  to  the  policy  of  neutrality, 
and   were  emboldened  to  clamor  for  the   irovern- 


ALIEN  AND  SEDITION  ACTS.  33 

ment's  in  some  way  aiding  France  in  her  struggle 
with  England.  What  they  could  not  obtain  by 
open  and  direct  means,  they  attempted  by  secret 
and  indirect.  Some  laid  plans  to  seize  Louisiana, 
others  to  make  an  expedition  against  Florida  ;  both 
of  these  belonged  to  Spain,  and  the  object  was  to 
embroil  us  in  a  war  with  that  country,  then  an  ally 
of  England.  They  even  went  so  far  as  to  tamper,  by 
means  of  agents,  with  the  settlers  of  Kentucky,  to 
induce  them  to  furnish  men  to  capture  Louisiana. 
These  settlers  were  for  the  most  part  from  Virginia, 
and  their  prominent  men  seem  to  have  been  im- 
bued with  the  abstract  theories  of  politics  so  preva- 
lent in  that  State,  and  also  with  French  notions  of 
democracy  and  infidelity. 

The  National  government  seemed  thus  compelled 
in  self-defence  to  take  decisive  measures,  and  it 
passed  the  "  Alien  and  Sedition  laws"  (July,  1798) 
— the  former  to  expire  by  limitation  within  two 
years.  The  "  Alien  Act"  authorized  the  president  to 
order  out  of  the  country  foreigners  who  by  their  con- 
spiracies might  embroil  the  government  in  war.  The 
law  was  never  enforced  ;  its  effect  was  preventive, 
since  great  numbers  of  these  plotters,  seeing  their 
occupation  gone,  left  the  country.  The  "  Sedition 
law"  forbade  conspiracies  against  the  government, 
and  publications  designed  to  bring  it  into  disrepute. 
This  was  also  preventive.  It  might  perhaps  have 
been  better  for  the  government  to  have  borne  the 
misrepresentation  and  abuse  of  unscrupulous  news- 
paper men,  though  foreigners,  than  to  endeavor  to 


34  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

punish  such  offoiiscs  by  rcstiic-tive  legal  enactments. 
The  law  was  a  weleome  boon  to  the  leaders  of  the 
Democracy  ;  with  sadness  they  lamented  the  loss  of 
liberty  and  of  freedom  of  speech,  and  in  addition 
they  ])roclaimed  the  act  or  law  to  be  null  and  void, 
because  unconstitutional.  If  that  was  the  case,  they 
might  have  spared  themselves  much  anxiety,  since 
on  the  very  first  trial  under  the  law,  that  question 
would  have  been  tested  and  settled,  and,  moreover, 
the  law  itself  would  expire  within  two  years.  But 
such  sober  thoughts  seem  to  have  been  at  a  discount 
with  these  gentlemen,  and  the  consequence  was  the 
most  ludicrous  and  extravagant  partisan  furor  that 
ever  occurred  in  our  political  annals. 

Resolutions  of  '98. — Jefferson  hastened  to  the 
rescue,  with  a  set  of  resolutions  known  as  those  of 
'98.  {Americaji  People^  pp.  709-712.)  These  he  sent 
to  be  introduced  into  the  legislatures  of  Virginia 
and  Kentucky,  having  meanwhile  carefully  enjoined 
uj)on  his  friends  to  keep  their  authorship  a  secret 
• — Why  was  that  ? — which  they  did  for  twenty  years. 
These  resolutions  advocated  principles  that  have  been 
a  curse  to  the  land.  In  them  was  the  germ  of  Nulli- 
fication, and  of  resistance  to  national  authority,  as 
exemplified  in  the  late  rebellion.  Said  Alexander 
Hamilton,  when  he  learned  their  contents  :  "  This  is 
the  first  symptom  of  a  sjnrit  which  must  be  killed, 
or  it  will  kill  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 
{Life  of  John  Jay,  II.,  p.  89.)  These  resolutions 
were  a  standard  theme  of  eulogy  for  certain  orators 
and  writers  till  their  principles  began  to  be  tested  in 


ALIEN  AND  SEDITION  ACTS.  35 

1861.  "Were  it  not  for  the  far-reaching  influences 
that  grew  out  of  this  pohtical  furor,  the  story  of  this 
episode — though  it  was  the  occasion  of  making 
Jefferson  president — need  not  have  been  told  ;  but 
it  belongs  legitimately  to  the  history  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  whose  leaders  for  nearly  half  a  century 
afterward  harped  on  the  enormities  of  the  "  Alien 
and  Sedition  laws,"  and  continue  still  to  eulogize 
the  "  Resolutions  of  '98." 

The  material  prosperity  of  the  country  had  been 
steadily  advancing  for  twelve  years,  and  at  the 
close  of  John  Adams's  presidency,  the  revenue  was 
amply  sufficient  for  the  current  expenses  of  the 
government ;  while  the  assurance  of  the  latter's 
stability  had  inspired  confidence  in  industrial  pur- 
suits ;  and  commerce  too,  both  in  the  exportation  of 
raw  material  and  in  the  carrying  trade,  had  ad- 
vanced far  beyond  precedent.  Strange  to  say,  the 
ludicrous  clamor  just  mentioned  led  the  unintelli- 
gent among  the  Democracy  to  believe  that  the 
country  was  going  to  ruin  ;  and  when  by  their  votes 
they  put  Thomas  Jefferson  in  the  presidential  chair, 
they  verily  thought  they  had  saved  the  country  and 
their  own  precious  liberties  too.  And  why?  Be- 
cause a  few  foreign  refugees  in  consequence  of  their 
abuse  of  the  Nation's  hospitality,  and  impertinent 
intei-meddling  in  its  affairs,  were  invited  to  leave  the 
country  or  conduct  themselves  properly,  and  a  few 
foreign-born  editors  were  warned  that  their  whole- 
sale abuse  of  the  gove^nnient  and  its  officers  must 
cease.     A  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 


30  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

afterward  was  enaoled  a  similar  socno,  when  the 
more  radical  of  the  same  ])olitical  organization  pro- 
claimed and  thought  that  they  too  had  saved  the 
country. 

During  the  first  three  administrations  of  the  gov- 
ernment the  law  required  a  residence  of  fourleen 
years  before  an  alien  could  be  admitted  to  citizen- 
ship. Toward  the  close  of  that  period  it  was  esti- 
mated there  were  in  the  United  States  between 
twenty  and  thirty  thousand  foreigners,  princijially 
French  and  Irish  refugees.  With  scarcely  an  excep- 
tion these  aliens  were  in  sympathy  with  Jefi'erson 
and  the  Democratic  clubs  in  their  opposition  to  the 
policy  of  neutrality  adopted  by  the  National  govern- 
ment (pp.  12-lG).  Very  few  of  those  foreigners,  in 
consequence  of  the  above  law,  had  become  citizens 
and  voters.  The  reader  can  understand  why,  in  the 
first  session  of  the  first  Congress  in  Jefferson's  ad- 
ministration, that  law  was  so  changed  as  to  reduce 
the  time  of  such  residence  from  fourteen  years  to 
five.  This  is  one  of  the  onl}'  tivo  instances  in  which 
a  law,  primarily  introduced  and  carried  through 
Congress  by  the  Democratic  party  alone,  became  the 
policy  of  the  Nation.  {Johnston's  American  Politics, 
p.  54.) 


STRICT     CONSTITUTIONAL      CONSTRUC 
TION. 

Nature  of  the  American  Constitution. — The 
leaders  of  no  political  organization  have  been  quite 
so  inconsistent  in  the  application  of  their  theories, 
as  the  Strict  Constructionists  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  as  they  styled  themselves. 
On  this  subject  we  intend  -to  notice  only,  and 
that  very  bi-iefly,  one  or  two  salient  points. 
Immediately  after  the  inauguration  of  the  govern- 
ment under  President  Washington,  came  the 
practical  application  of  the  principles  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  of  course  the  latter's  interpreta- 
tion. The  departments  of  foreign  affairs  or  of 
State  and  of  War,  had  been,  virtually,  in  existence 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle, 
and  their  present  secretaries  could  learn  much  from 
the  experience  of  their  predecessors  ;  but  that  of  the 
Treasury,a8  applied  to  the  Avhole  Nation,  involved  an 
entirely  new  financial  system,  which  included  the 
means  of  raising  the  funds  necessary  to  carry  on 
the  national  government,  and  likewise  meet  all  its 
other  pecuniary  obligations. 

Alexander  Hamilton,  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury, contended  that  if  the  Constitution  authorized 
the  doing  of  a  certain  thing,  it  impliedly  authorized. 


4fi2236 


38  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

also,  the  use  of  the  proper  means  to  accompllsft 
that  object.  lie  characterized  this  i)rinciple  as  the 
"imjilied  powers"  of  the  Constitution.  That  inter- 
pretation "vvas  so  much  in  accordance  with  the  dic- 
tates of  common  sense,  that  the  national  government 
— though  sometimes  its  prominent  administrative 
officers  were  strict  constructionists — has  ever  since 
virtually  acted  upon  it.  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  the 
school  of  which  he  was  the  most  prominent  exponent, 
believed  in  the  strict  constructionist  theory ;  but 
his  explanation  lacks  clearness,  while  his  application 
of  it  is  inconsistent.  These  gentlemen  must  have 
thought  the  Constitution,  instead  of  being  an  in- 
strument comprising  general  principles,  and  thus 
affording  room  for  the  use  of  the  knowledge  and 
wisdom  acquired  by  experience  in  its  application  to 
the  necessities  of  the  Nation,  was  a  sort  of  govern- 
mental cast-iron  frame  that  was  ever  to  remain 
inflexible.  England's  great  statesman,  W.  E.  Glad- 
stone, thought  differently  when  he  said,  "  As  the 
British  Constitution  is  the  most  subtile  organism 
which  has  proceeded  from  progressive  history,  so 
the  American  Constitution  is  the  most  wonderful 
work  ever  struck  off  at  a  given  time  by  the  brain 
and  purpose  of  man." 

Application  of  Implied  Powers. — The  first 
struggle  of  the  strict  constructionists  was  on  the 
policy  of  chartering  a  United  States  Bank.  The 
Constitution  gives  Congress  the  power  "to  regulate 
commerce  among  the  several  States " ;  and  the 
second  Congress  at  its  first  session  char*ered  a  "  Na. 


STRICT  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONSTRUCTION.   39 

tional  Bank  for  twenty  years,  with  the  privilege 
to  establish  branches  in  any  of  the  States  "  ;  this 
was  done  at  the  suggestion  of  Hamilton.  Congress 
thought  that  it  would  "  regulate  commerce  "  by 
facilitating  financial  exchanges  among  the  States, 
but  the  "  strict  constructionists  "  seemed  to  demand 
the  authority  in  explicit  terms,  or  in  so  many  words. 
The  Constitution  authorizes  Congress  "  to  establish 
post-offices  and  post-roads,"  and  yet  the  statesmen  of 
the  strict  school,  at  this  time  in  authority,  were 
much  puzzled  what  to  do,  when  it  was  proposed  for 
Congress  to  construct  the  famous  national  or  Cum- 
berland Road  across  the  mountains,  thus  uniting  the 
Atlantic  slope  Avith  the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  But  it 
was  a  measure  so  important  that  they  held  in  abey- 
ance their  "  strict  "  scruples  and  authorized  the  work 
and  voted  appropriations  to  carry  it  on  toward  com- 
pletion. That  road  was  at  the  time,  in  proportion 
to  the  population  and  territory  belonging  to  the 
Nation,  as  important  as  in  1869  was  the  finished 
Union  Railway  from  the  Mississij^pi  to  the  Pacific. 
On  the  same  general  principle,  as  well  as  in  aid  of 
commerce.  Congress  still  makes  appropriations  to 
improve  rivers  and  harbors,  all  under  the  implied 
powers  inherent  in  the  Constitution. 

Again,  the  Constitution  says :  "  New  States  may 
be  admitted  by  Congress  into  the  Union."  There 
is  no  intimation  nor  direction  given  as  to  what  tei'- 
titory  these  States  were  to  come  from,  nor  by  what 
means  they  were  to  be  obtained  ;  there  is  the  power 
granted,  and  the  wisdom  of  Congress  was  to  devise 


40  rOLITICAL  PARTIES.^ 

the  moans.  Could  anything  be  oloarcr  hy  implica- 
tion than  that  ?  Practical  wisdom  "svonld  say  no; 
but  the  speculating  theorist  would  be  in  doubt. 
Thus  Jefferson,  as  a  strict  constructionist,  was 
greatly  puzzled  whether  or  not  he  liad  the  consti- 
tutional power  to  purchase  Louisiana.  Finally  he 
made  the  purchase — saying  it  was  extra-con^iiiu- 
tional.  Alexander  Hamilton  was  strongly  in  favor  of 
thus  obtaining  the  territory  of  Louisiana,  while  num- 
bers of  the  Federalists  of  the  time  were  mistakenly 
opposed,  but  not  on  constitutional  grounds.  It  is 
remarkable  that  all  the  territory  we  ever  acquired, 
with  the  excejition  of  Alaska,  was  obtained  by  pro- 
fessed strict  constructionists,  who,  for  the  time  be- 
ing, adopted  Hamilton's  interpretation  of  the  im- 
plied powers  within  the  Constitution  itself.  It  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  the  people  only  in  one  instance, 
that  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  had  an  opportunity 
by  their  votes  to  express  their  views  on  the  subject ; 
all  the  other  territory  being  obtained  by  negotia- 
tions conducted  by  the  different  presidents  without 
consulting  the  people. 


VI. 

A  COMPARISON. 

Party  Material. — "  The  Democrats  were  far  in- 
ferior to  the  Federalists,  in  the  numbers  and  the 
ability  of  their  leaders;  and,  moreover,  the  great 
moneyed  interests  of  the  Northern  States  were  the 
corner  stone  of  the  Federal  party."  (  Von  Holst^ 
I.,  p.  179.)  A  similar  comparison  maybe  instituted 
in  point  of  the  general  intelligence  of  that  day,  be- 
tween the  main  supporters  of  the  former — the  plant- 
ers and  farmers — and  the  main  adherents  of  the  lat- 
ter— the  merchants,  the  manufacturers,  the  importers 
and  bankers — and  in  contrast  equally  as  striking  as 
that  made  by  Professor  Von  Hoist.  This  is  an  im- 
portant element  that  should  be  taken  into  account, 
when  forming  an  estimate  of  the  causes  that  modi- 
fied the  politics  of  that  portion  of  our  history.  There 
were  legitimate  reasons  for  the  differences  existing 
between  the  rank  and  file  of  these  two  rival  polit- 
ical organizations.  The  Federalists  were  mainly  in 
the  States  where  public  schools  had  been  in  existence 
for  generations,  and  where  their  influence  had  per- 
meated the  whole  community,  as  well  as  in  those 
States  where  education  was  cherished,  but  not 
through  the  medium  so  much  of  public  as  of  private 
schools;  while  in  the  Slave-Labor  States  public 
schools  were  unknown.    Where  the  latter  existed 


4-2  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

the  jieople  became  readers,  newspapers  were  pa. 
troni/A'd,  and  Hourished  in  conse(]uence ;  and  by 
means  of  these  the  readers  informed  themselves  on 
the  current  topics  of  the  time,  rather  than  by  the 
vehement  liarangues  and  ex-parte  statements  of 
stump  orators.  The  earnest  public  speaker  is  often 
tempted  to  make  assertions,  while  addressing  an 
audience,  that  he  would  not  dare  write  and 
publish.  The  extreme  bitterness  of  party  spirit 
that  existed  at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  in  cer- 
tain portions  of  the  Union,  may  be  traced,  more  or 
less,  to  the  fact  that  the  populace  caught  the  animus 
of  the  stump  orators  to  whom  they  listened.  On  the 
contrary,  had  they  read  even  the  same  sentiments 
in  the  quiet  of  their  own  homes,  thus  having  more 
opportunity  for  reflection  and  for  reading  counter 
arguments,  they  would  have  been  influenced  more 
by  reason  than  by  the  eloquence  of  political 
speakers. 

Prejudices  Instilled. — A  curious  phase  of  preju- 
dice, as  already  noted,  was  instilled  into  the  minds  of 
the  unintelligent  Democracy  of  that  day.  They  were 
often  led,  by  the  insinuation  and  hasty  assertions  of 
their  leaders,  to  suspect  the  well-to-do  and  the 
educated  portion  of  the  community  of  being  hostile 
to  themselves.  These  leaders,  at  first,  as  we  have 
seen,  characterized  those  who  sustained  the  policy 
of  the  government  for  the  first  twelve  years  of  its 
existence  as  "  Aristocrats,^''  and  that  term  of  pre- 
sumed reproach  was  used  until  superseded  by  that 
of   the    "  Moneyed  Power,''''  meaning  by  the  latter 


A  COMPARISON.  43 

epithet  those  who  continued  to  sustain  the  financial 
principles  introduced  by  Alexander  Hamilton  and 
embodied  in  the  policy  of  Washington's  adminis- 
tration ;  the  policy  of  Neutrality  in  the  meantime 
having  become  poi:)ular,  the  epithet  "  Aristocrat," 
as  originally  used,  was  no  longer  available.  But  in 
relation  to  financial  measures,  taxes,  tariffs,  banks, 
etc.,  "moneyed  power"  suited  their  j^urpose  ad- 
mirably, and  every  "  jDoor  man  "  who  worked  for 
wages,  was  impliedly  invited  to  look  upon  the  well- 
to-do  and  the  intelligent  as  having  but  little  sym- 
pathy for  him.  The  persons  thus  affected  in  that 
day — the  planters  and  farmers — were  of  a  lower 
grade  of  intelligence  than  those  of  the  present  time. 
Now  the  vast  majority  thus  influenced  are  foreigners 
or  their  direct  descendants,  and  a  hostile  feeling  is 
fostered  between  the  employers  and  the  employed. 
Financiering-. — In  respect  to  the  management  of 
the  finances  of  the  nation,  the  contrast  between  the 
two  leading  political  organizations  in  our  history  has 
been  always  A^ery  marked.  Those  financial  measures, 
which  were  comprehensive,  and  in  their  influence  ben- 
eficial to  the  whole  nation,  are  due  not  to  the  leaders 
of  the  Democracy,  but  to  their  opponents.  It  is  true 
that  individual  members  from  the  commercial  and 
manufacturing  centers  often  voted  with  the  latter  for 
such  measures,  but  in  doing  so  they,  for  the  time 
being,  severed  their  connection  with  the  theory  and 
spirit  of  their  own  party.  This  unwise  legislation 
in  respect  to  commercial  interests  and  mechanical 
industries,  originated  in  contracted  views  of  states« 


U  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

manship,  which  rendered  such  officials  sectional  in 
their  ideas — though  it  may  have  been  unconsciously 
— and  finable  to  coniprebcnd  the  wants  of  a  well 
organized  nation.  Hence  there  has  been  always  a 
crudeness  of  legislation  on  financial  affairs,  including 
tariffs,  whenever  the  Democracy  have  predominated 
in  the  nation's  councils.  Jefferson,  when  president, 
though  opposed  to  the  United  States  Bank,  was 
anxious  to  use  the  other  banks  as  political  machines 
and  on  the  12th  of  July,  1803,  he  wrote  to  his  sec- 
retary of  the  treasury — Albert  Gallatin — saying  : 
"  I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  making  all  the  banks 
Republican  [Democratic]  by  sharing  deposits  among 
them  in  2)ro2^ortion  to  the  disposition  they  shoxo.  If 
the  law  forbid  it,  we  should  not  permit  another 
session  of  Congress  to  pass  without  amending  it.  It 
is  material  to  the  safety  of  Republicanism  [the  De- 
mocracy] to  detach  the  mercantile  interests  from  its 
enemies,  and  incorporate  them  into  the  body  of  its 
friends."  {BoUes's  Financial  Hist,  of  the  U.  S.,  p. 
140.) 

Internal  Improvements. — Another  element — 
the  dogma  of  extreme  State  Rights,  or  Sovereignty 
— influenced  the  statesmen,  both  in  relation  to  the 
United  States  Bank  and  to  internal  improvements. 
They  seemed  to  have  a  horror  of  any  policy  that 
would  exert  an  influence  in  uniting  the  people  in 
closer  bonds  of  union — especially  those  living  in  the 
slave,  with  those  dwelling  in  the  Free-Labor  States. 
Hence  they  deprecated  the  United  States  Bank  with 
its  branches  in  the  several  States.     For  a  similar 


A  COMPABISON.  45 

reason  —  predicated  on  assumed  constitutional 
grounds — they  had  their  doubts  as  to  internal  im- 
provements being  made  by  the  national  government : 
such  as  canals,  that  might  extend  from  one  State  to 
another.  This  was  before  the  era  of  railways ; 
which,  being  constructed  by  corporations  using  pri- 
vate capital,  have  made  sad  work  with  the  retarding 
policy  fostered  by  the  extreme  theory  of  State 
Rights. 

Secreta.ries  of  the  Treasury. — The  Presidents 
from  the  South  practically  recognized  the  inferioi* 
skill  in  financial  aflairs  of  the  public  men  of  that 
section  by  selecting  Northern  men  as  Secretaries  of 
the  Treasury.  George  Washington  set  the  example 
by  appointing  to  that  office  that  prince  of  financiers, 
Alexander  Hamilton.  Another  Northern  man,  Al- 
bert Gallatin,  was  for  fourteen  years  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  under  Jefferson  and  Madison.  With 
scarcely  an  exception,  for  seventy  years  Northern 
men  were  selected  for  that  office.  The  only  Secre- 
tary from  the  South  who  left  his  impress  upon  the 
financial  and  industrial  interests  of  the  country  was 
Robert  J.  Walker,  of  Mississippi.  The  London 
Times  characterized  his  first  report  to  Congress  as 
the  only  "  properly  Free-trade  document  ever  made 
by  an  American  minister  of  finance."  Upon  the 
theories  contained  in  that  report  was  based  tlie 
principles  of  the  tariff  of  1846  (pp.  118-121).  John 
G.  Carlisle,  of  Kentucky,  was  appointed  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  in  1893. 


VII. 
JEFFERSON'S  EMBARGO. 

Foreign  War. — Toward  the  close  of  Jefferson's 
first  administration,  Avar  broke  ont  more  fiercely 
than  ever  between  France  and  England,  and  the 
cruisers  of  both  belligerents,  knowing  its  helpless 
condition,  began  to  prey  upon  our  commerce,  under 
the  pretext  of  searching  our  merchantmen  for  arti- 
cles conti-aband  of  war.  The  peace  policy  of  the 
President  invited  this  kind  of  treatment  from  these 
unscrupulous  cruisers.  The  merchants  petitioned 
for  licenses  to  arm  and  protect  themselves,  as  they 
had  done  in  the  jjrevious  administration  ;  but  that 
petition  Avas  denied  on  the  ground  that,  if  granted, 
it  would  be  virtually  war.  Yet  the  illegal  seizure 
of  our  merchant  vessels  by  these  cruisers  was 
looked  upon  in  the  light  of  the  "  Chinese  Theory  " 
— of  non-intercourse  wuth  the  rest  of  the  world — as 
quite  a  venial  offence. 

Domestic  Paralysis. — Xow  was  the  time  to  apply 
the  potent  remedy  for  these  evils,  and  the  president, 
whose  political  wisdom  was  deemed  infallible  by 
the  great  majority  of  his  admirers,  recommended, 
and  Congress — without  a  moment's  warning  to  the 
country — passed  the  Embargo  Act  (Dec.  1807)  ;  a 
law  forbidding   the  American  i)eople  to  trade  with 


JEFFERSON'S  EMBABGO.  47 

the  French  and  English.  {Patton^s  American  Peo- 
2)le,  pp.  612-614.)  This  was  clone  with  the  expecta- 
tion that  these  two  nations,  f  oi*  the  want  of  our  raw 
material  and  produce,  would  hasten  to  respect  our 
flag,  and  no  more  board  our  merchantmen  in  search 
of  articles  contraband  of  war  nor  impress  those  of 
our  seamen  who  happened  to  be  born  in  the  British 
Isles  ;  or,  if  worse  came  to  worst,  we  would  have  no 
ships  on  the  ocean  for  them  to  board,  at  all.  In 
consequence  of  this  law,  the  commerce  of  the 
country  was  ruined  ;  ships  in  hundreds  lay  rotting 
at  the  wharves,  and  thousands  of  sailors  were  thrown 
out  of  employment,  while  the  surplus  agricultural 
produce  of  the  land  was  valueless  for  want  of  a  mar- 
ket, and  all  this  ruin  brought  about  by  the  crude 
legislation  of  a  Democratic  Congress,  held  in  hand  by 
a  president  who  was  the  idol  of  the  party.  If  one 
doubts  the  accuracy  of  this  statement,  let  him  read 
the  history  of  the  period  from  Dec.  1807  to  the 
end  of  Jefferson's  administration.  "  The  Alien  and 
Sedition  laws  were  not  nearly  so  unjust  and  tyran- 
nical as  the  laws  for  enforcing  the  embargo,  and  they 
did  not  touch  one  man,  when  the  embargo  laws 
touched  hundreds."     { Sumner'' s  Jackson,  j).  28.) 

An  Unforeseen  Blessing-. — These  measures  bore 
very  hard  upon  the  laboring  men  and  mechanics  of 
the  time,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  deprived  of  em- 
ployment. As  the  embargo  lasted  almost  a  year 
and  a  half,  their  misfortunes  led  to  a  large  emigra- 
tion of  these  workmen  from  the  seaboard  States  to 
the   west.      The    movement,  which    continued  for 


^t8  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

some  time,  grew  out  of  the  circumstances,  and  was 
indirectly  beneficial  to  the  Nation  in  commencing 
settlements  in  several  new  States.  This  advantage 
to  the  country  is  not  to  be  attributed,  however,  to 
the  far-seeing  policy  of  the  political  leaders  of  that 
day — for  they  jilanned  no  such  movement.  What 
a  contrast  to  the  laws  enacted  for  the  purpose 
(1863),  under  which  States  and  Territories  have 
since  been,  and  are  now  being,  settled  in  accordance 
with  the  comprehensive  policy,  as  shown  by  the 
Homestead  Law,  and  the  opening  up  of  new  terri- 
tories by  means  of  railways. 

Failure  of  the  Embargo  Policy. — Meanwhile, 
the  com])lications  in  relation  to  the  cruisers  con- 
tinued as  the  weakness  of  our  defences,  both  by  sea 
and  land,  was  well  understood  by  the  belligerents  of 
Europe,  and  when  the  English  frigate  Leopard 
wantonly  fired  upon  and  boarded  the  United  States 
frigate  Chesapeake  (1807),  and  carried  off  four  men, 
President  Jefferson,  in  consequence,  ordered  the 
English  war  vessels  out  of  American  waters ;  but 
their  officers,  knowing  he  was  unable  to  en- 
force the  order,  in  the  most  contemptuous  man- 
ner, took  their  own  time.  This  unpleasant  condi- 
tion of  affairs  between  England  and  the  United 
States  continued  until  Congress  declared  war  (1812) 
in  Madison's  administration.  Thouech,  owins:  to 
the  "  penny  wise  "  policy  of  Jefferson,  which  also 
was  practised  to  nearly  the  same  extent  by  his  suc- 
cessor, the  country  was  as  unprepared  to  enter  upon 
such  a  contest,  as  was  Napoleon  III  to  contend  with 


JEFFERSON'S  EMBARGO.  49 

Prussia.  The  despised  little  navy  came  tc  the 
rescue,  and  afterward  had  the  honor,  by  its  victories, 
to  raise  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  people,  and  save 
the  nation  from  disgraca 


VIII. 

SECOND  WAR  WITH  ENGLAND. 

"War  Preparations. — Though  Presidents  Wash- 
ington and  Adams  used  every  honorable  means  to 
avoid  collisions  with  the  belligerents  in  Europe,  yet 
the}'  caused  the  power  of  the  United  States  to  be 
respected  by  putting  our  military  forces,  both  land 
and  naval,  in  such  condition  that  in  case  of  war  the 
government  should  not  be  unprepared.  At  impor- 
tant ports  along  the  coast  our  defences  were 
strengthened,  and  three  frigates — the  Constitution, 
the  United  States,  and  the  Constellation  —  com- 
menced in  Washington's  administration,  were  fin- 
ished in  1798,  when  the  people  themselves  came 
forward,  and,  by  their  liberal  subscriptions,  aided  in 
equipping  them  for  active  service.  These  National 
vessels  soon  had  influence  as  convoys  in  protecting 
American  commerce  from  the  interference  of  French 
and  British  cruisers  ;  in  addition  President  Adams 
licensed  more  than  three  hundred  American  mer- 
chantmen to  carry  arms  and  protect  themselves, 
which  they  did.  Congress  also  authorized  the  build- 
ing of  six  additional  frigates,  which  were  well  under 


SECOND  WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  51 

way  when  the  administration  of  John  Adams  came 
to  a  close. 

Jefferson's  Peace  Policy. — Mr.  Adams  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Thomas  Jefferson,  Avho,  on  entering  upon 
office,  began  to  j^ut  in  practice  his  j^eculiar  theories. 
For  ilhistration,  he  was  not  so  much  in  favor  of 
commerce  as  to  protect  it  from  the  aggressions  of 
belligerent  cruisers  by  means  of  a  navy ;  he  rather 
preferred  that  the  public  ships  should  be  hauled  in 
out  of  harm's  way.  He  also  deemed  the  keeping  up 
of  harbor  fortifications  along  the  coast  as  a  useless 
expense  ;  if  we  should  have  difficulties  with  foreign 
governments,  he  would  retaliate  by  cutting  off  our 
trade  with  them  by  means  of  embargoes  ;  if  the 
navy  of  an  enemy  attacked  our  seaboard  cities,  he 
would  defend  them  by  using  gunboats  in  our  harbors 
instead  of  men-of-war  upon  the  ocean  ;  and  at  his 
suggestion  Congress  authorized  the  frames  of  the 
six  frigates  already  mentioned,  and  on  which  work 
had  been  stopped  by  order  of  the  President,  to  be 
taken  to  pieces  and  the  timber  used  in  building  gvin-. 
boats.  The  latter  were  to  be  anchored  in  the  har- 
bors to  defend  the  cities :  but  they  proved  to  be  ab- 
solutely worthless  ;  the  sailors  were  afraid  of  them  ; 
they  said  that  if  heavy  guns  were  fired  from  their 
decks  they  would  topple  over.  For  six  years  not 
an  ocean-going  vessel  of  war  was  added  to  our 
navy.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Southern  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  following  Jefferson's  lead,  were 
specially  hostile  to  our  marine  while  there  was 
abroad  in  that  section  an  opinion  that  it  was  better 


52  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

to  give  up  commerce  altogether,  than  incur  the  ex- 
j)onse  of  a  navy  to  ju-otect  it;  while  as  to  the  people 
living  on  the  seaboard,  if  they  were  attacked,  why 
they  could  retire  into  the  interior,  as  was  recom- 
mended by  Jefferson  himself. 


IX. 

OUR  FIRST  IMPORTANT  TARIFF. 

American  Manufactures. — Our  industrial  pro- 
gress had  been  very  great,  when  it  was  interrupted, 
as  we  shall  see,  by  the  influence  of  the  attempt  at 
Nullification  in  South  Carolina  (1833).  A  brief  notice 
of  this  progress  will  not  be  out  of  place  here.  At  the 
close  of  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain  in  1815, 
American  manufactures  had  increased  beyond  pre- 
cedent. This  was  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  the 
suspension  of  commercial  intercourse  with  England, 
which  had  hitherto  furnished  nearly  all  the  foreign 
made  articles  used  in  the  United  States.  Thus 
from  necessity  the  American  people  began  to  manu- 
factui-e  those  articles  for  themselves,  while  their 
genius  for  invention  was  brought  into  requisition  in 
devising  labor-saving  machinery.  (American  People^ 
p.  713.) 

Lord  Brougham's  Advice. — England  was  then 
striving  to  hold  the  control  of  the  ocean,  and  also  to 
become  the  workshop  of  the  world ;  and  was  deter- 
mined to  permit  no  interference  with  either  of  these 
assumed  prerogatives.  The  spirit  Avitli  which  she  wa& 
imbued  may  be  inferred  from  what  Lord  Brougham 
said  in  Parliament  in  1816,  when  he  declared  he  was 
very  far  from  placing  the  vast  exports  which  the 


54  POLITICAL   PARTIES, 

)H':\ci'  with  Aiiu'rica  h:i(l  (XH-asioned  "upon  the  same 
footiiiLj  with  those  to  the  European  market  the  year 
before  ;  both  because  ultimately  the  Americans  will 
pay,  which  the  exhausted  state  of  the  Continent 
renders  unlikely,  and  because  it  was  well  worth 
while  to  incur  a  loss  upon  the  first  ex])ortation,  in 
order  by  the  glut  to  stifle  in  the  cradle  those  rising 
manufactures  in  the  United  States,  which  the  war 
ha<l  forced  into  existence  contrary  to  the  natural 
course  of  things."  {IlansarcVs  I^arl.  Debates,  \st. 
Series,  XXXIII.  p.  1099.)  The  last  phrase  intimates 
tliat  the  "  natural  course  of  things  "  was  for  England 
to  do  the  manufacturing  for  the  world. 

At  the  time  of  which  w^e  "svi-ite  (1816)  England 
had  been  for  a  century  or  more  training  her  people 
for  this  triumph  of  skill  in  various  mechanical  in- 
dustries. In  addition  to  highly  j)'>'otective  tariffs, 
she  forbade,  In'  stringent  laws  and  severe  penalties, 
persons  taking  from  the  kingdom  any  machine  used 
in  manufacturing.  Samuel  Slater  had  brought  to  the 
United  States  in  1790  the  drawings  of  the  machinery 
used  in  England  for  spinning  cotton.  From  these 
drawings  was  made  the  first  "  s])inning  jenny  "  in 
this  country.  It  was  set  to  work  in  Pawtuckct, 
Rhode  Island  {American People,  \t.  578),  1793,  thi!s 
becoming  the  pioneer  of  our  extensive  system  of 
cotton  manufacturing. 

As  soon  as  the  treaty  of  Ghent  (Dec.  3,  1814) 
was  ratified,  and  a  way  opened  to  commerce  be- 
tween England  and  America,  English  merchants 
flooded  the  markets  of  the  United  States  with  their 


OUR  FIRST  IMPORTANT  TARIFF.  55 

goods.  These  were  put  at  very  low  rates,  frequently 
below  cost,  with  the  avowed  intention,  as  we  have 
seen,  of  destroying  our  domestic  manufactures, 
Avhicli  had  come  into  existence  during  the  war. 
77iis  tliey  did  effectually.  Great  multitudes  of  our 
working  people  were  thrown  out  of  employment, 
causing  much  distress ;  while  the  prospect  was  that 
henceforth  our  industries  Avould  be  held  in  bondage 
at  the  Avill  of  the  foreign  manufacturer. 

An  Equalizing-  Measure. — The  statesmen  of 
that  day,  who  followed  the  example  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  had  a  policy  that  was  not  merely  theo- 
retical, but  based  upon  reason  and  common  sense. 
They  labored  to  introduce  measures  that  would  lay 
a  firm  foimdation  for  the  future  progress  of  the 
country.  In  consequence,  they  imposed  a  tariff 
upon  foreign-made  articles,  thought  to  be  sufficiently 
high  to  equalize  the  cost  of  their  2>i'oduction,  or,  in 
other  words,  counterhalance  the  low  wages  paid  the 
operatives  in  Europe.  They  designed  to  promote 
the  industries  of  the  whole  land ;  endeavoring, 
meanwhile,  to  make  them  as  diversified  as  the  wants 
of  the  people  required.  They  wished,  also,  to 
develop  the  natural  resources  of  the  country,  then 
thought  to  be  great,  and  now  known  to  be  almost 
inexhaustible.  In  accordance  with  these  principles 
Congress  passed  a  tariff  (1816)  sufficiently  high  in 
Its  rate  to  produce  revenue  and  protect  our  own 
industries,  which,  having  had  no  foreign  com- 
petition for  the  previous  four  years,  had  been 
carried  on  prosperously,  until  overwhelmed  as  we 


:,r,  rouTicAL  iwhtiks. 

have  just  scon.  Tlu>  Slave-Labor  States  were  then 
in  favor  of  fostorinuf  domestic  nianiifactnres,  John 
C  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina,  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  movement,  and  so  did  Henry  Clay,  of 
Kentucky;  the  latter,  however,  continued  to  view 
protection  against  the  skill  and  low  wages  paid  in 
Europe,  as  necessary  for  the  development  of  our  na- 
tional resources  of  every  kind.  The  slave-ownei's 
seemed  to  have  had  reference  to  employing  their 
slaves  in  manufacturing,  especially  coarse  cottons, 
the  material  used  mostly  for  clothing  the  negroes. 
The  making  of  these  cottons  had  been  introduced 
successfully  into  American  mills  within  the  last  few 
years. 

The  Results. — Years  passed  on  and  this  tariff 
(1810),  amended  from  time  to  time  to  make  it  more 
effective,  encouraged  the  various  mechanical  indus- 
tries of  the  Union  so  that  they  progressed  with 
amazing  rapidity ;  the  whole  country  gained  under 
the  influence,  as  all  classes,  especially  in  the  Free- 
Labor  States,  were  busily  employed,  and  the  nation 
was  never  before  so  prosperous.  In  less  than  a 
score  of  years,  it  was  found,  however,  that  the 
slaves,  because  of  their  ignorance  and  lack  of  inter- 
est in  their  work,  could  not  spin  and  weave  cotton. 
They  could  only  hoe  and  pick  it.  Senator  Hayne 
of  South  Carolina  put  the  case  in  this  manner : — 
"  The  slaves  are  too  incapable  of  minute,  constant, 
delicate  attention,  and  the  persevering  industry 
which  18  essential  to  the  success  of  manufacturing 
establishments."      Senator  McDufRe,  of    the  same 


OUR  FIRST  IMPORT  A  XT  TARIFF.  57 

Stale,  argued  in  opposition,  saying  be  believed 
"  tbat  tbe  slaves  could  work  in  factories  "  (Debates 
in  Conffress,Yo\.  X).  Meanwbile,  in  New  England, 
in  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  the 
people  during  tbis  period  bad  been  acquiring  skill 
wbicb  tbey  applied  very  successfully  in  many  kinds 
of  manufacturing,  sucb  as  textile  fabrics  and  iron. 
It  was  owing  to  tbe  intelligence  of  tbose  who  woi-ked 
in  the  mills,  and  their  zeal  in  their  work,  tbat  these 
rapid  strides  were  made  in  the  Free-Labor  States. 
Though  tbey  had  not  learned  to  make  tbe  finer 
kinds  of  textile  fabrics — woolen  or  cotton — so  as  to 
compete  with  tbe  much  older  establishments  in 
France,  in  Belgium  or  in  Great  Britain,  yet  the 
New  Englanders  were  able  to  compete  in  coarse 
cottons  with  the  English  in  tbe  far  east,  especially 
in  the  markets  of  China,  and  at  the  same  time  supply 
tbe  slave-owners  at  home.  England,  before  long, 
virtually  gave  up  the  greater  portion  of  tbat  trade 
in  China,  as  she  found  it  more  profitable  to  man- 
ufacture tbe  finer  fabrics  from  cotton. 


X. 

LABOIl  AND  INTELLIGENCE. 

In  the  Slave  States. — The  South  might  have 
been  at  least  fairly  siiecessful  in  manufacturing,  if 
the  slave-owners  liad  Avishcd.  Had  they  taken 
measures  to  invest  caj)ital  and  establish  cotton  mills, 
even  when  they  found  that  the  slaves  could  not 
'Aork  to  advantage  in  them,  and  em])loyed  native 
whites,  male  and  female,  as  was  done  in  the  Free- 
Labor  States,  they  might  have  succeeded,  so  far  as 
to  have  changed  the  industrial  condition  of  that 
section  of  the  Union.  The  only  probable  drawback 
to  success  might  have  been  found  in  the  lack  of  in- 
telligence among  the  "  poor  whites  ;  "  for  this,  their 
misfortune,  the  slave-owners  themselves  were  re- 
sponsible, because  for  generations,  as  legislators, 
they  had  neglected  to  establish  common  schools  in 
which  the  youth,  male  and  female,  could  at  least 
have  been  taught  the  rudiments  of  an  education. 
Their  water-power  was  abundant,  and  scarcely  liable 
to  freeze  in  the  winter ;  in  that  respect  the  James 
Avas  supei-ior  to  the  Merrimac.  In  the  highlands  of 
the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  were  numerous  streams 
and  waterfalls,  and  abundance  of  white  labor  to 
be  obtained  from  those  who  did  not  own  slaves, 
for  in  that  region  the  evil  influence  of  the  system  of 
V'r\itude   in  degradiiif;   labor  was  not  so  much  felt 


LABOR  AND  INTELLIGENCE  59 

as  in  other  portions  of  these  States.  These  mills 
might  have  made  coarse  cottons,  and,  in  time,  other 
manufacturing  industries  might  have  been  intro 
duced. 

The  truth  was,  the  slave-owners  wanted  the  en- 
tire profits  accruing  from  both  raising  the  raw  cot- 
ton and  its  manufacture  by  slave-labor.  On  the 
other  hand  they  had  no  desire  to  elevate  the  labor- 
ing man,  or  "  white  trash,"  as  they  contemptuously 
termed  those  who  did  not  own  slaves,  but  who 
earned  their  living  by  manual  labor,  either  on  small 
farms  or  in  workshops  for  wages.  They  preferred 
to  abandon  almost  every  attempt  at  manufacturing 
throughout  the  land,  and  compel  Congress  to  enact 
laws  Avhich  tended  to  free  trade,  regardless  of  the 
injury  thus  done  to  the  industries  of  the  Free-Labor 
States.  In  1831  the  latter's  capital  invested  in  cot- 
ton manufacture  alone  amounted  to  more  than 
$40,000,000  {Industrial  Hist,  of  U.  S.,  p.  413). 
The  slave-owners  expected  to  make  this  change  in 
the  existing  tariff  by  using  the  votes  of  the  North- 
ern Democratic  members  of  Congress  whom  they 
controlled;  they  themselves  Avould,  henceforth, 
raise  cotton  only,  which  the  slaves  could  do.  Cot- 
ton, at  that  time,  was  the  most  important  export 
we  had.  We  shall  see  how  the  union  of  these  two 
wings  of  the  Democracy  brought  ruin  upon  the  in- 
dustries of  the  country,  and  threw  the  laboring  men 
and  mechanics  out  of  employment. 

Ignorant  Laborers. — Perhaps  the  greatest  crime 
against  the  "  poor  whites"  of  the  Slave-Labor  States, 


(io  r  01. in  CM.  i' ART  ins. 

was  tlio  indiriTt  t't'furt.s  rnadt'  for  s^onerations  to 
ki'i'j)  Uu'in  in  iLjiionuifo.  "  The  mass  of  the  small 
slavoholillnix  land-owners  and  of  the  poor  artisans, 
was  the  most  sorrowful  social  product  which  the  his- 
tory of  civilized  nations  had  to  show  ;  an  aristocratic 
class  of  common  people,  which  both  from  its  lack  of 
culture  and  its  arrogance  was  terrible  material  in 
the  hands  of  a  self-seeking  aristocracy  and  of  politi- 
cians giredy  for  power"  (  T'o??.  Jlolst,  I.,  p.  347). 
Aristocracies  are,  and  always  have  been,  tyrannical 
and  selfish,  treating  with  contempt  those  below 
them  in  the  social  scale.  The  slave-owners — the 
rulers  and  legislators — forbade,  by  laws  sanctioned 
by  cruel  ])enalties,  the  negroes  learning  to  read  and 
write,  and  punished  severely  those  who  should 
teach  them.  They  likewise  neglected  to  provide 
public  schools  for  their  own  children,  and  for  those 
of  the  non-slaveholding  portion  of  the  people.  This 
policy  continued  for  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  the  legitimate  result  of  which  was,  at 
the  end  of  that  period,  the  most  illiterate  native 
white  population  in  the  entire  Nation  ( Census  of 
the  U/rifrd  State.'ifor  1860). 

A  Chang-e  of  Base.— When  the  tariff  of  1816— 
characterized  as  "  protective  " — was  passed,  it  was 
deemed  constitutional  by  John  C.  Calhoun,  and 
his  compeers  from  the  cotton-growing  States.  It  is 
a  singular  coincidence  that  thirteen  years  later, 
when  it  was  found  that  the  slaves  could  not  work 
in  cotton  or  woolen  mills,  the  views  of  these  states- 
men    chaiigod.     The    theorv    now    advocated    wa» 


LABOR  AND  INTELLIGENCE.  61 

that  a  tariff,  in  its  effect  protective  to  American  in- 
dustry, was  uncotistitutional  (Debates  in  Con- 
gress^  X.,  pp,  243,  245).  This  Avas  assuming  that 
the  tariff  then  in  existence  was  made  with  the  in- 
tention to  aid  one  portion  of  the  community — the 
manufacturers — by  virtually  prohibiting  the  impor- 
tation of  certain  classes  of  goods  that  could  be  made 
here ;  but  that  was  never  the  intention  of  its  framers, 
nor  that  the  result  produced.  The  protest  issued 
by  the  South  Carolina  Convention  (1829)  pro- 
nounced protective  duties  "  unconstitutiouaJ.,  op- 
pressive and  unjust.''''  These  were  the  mutterings 
of  Nullification.  The  ground  taken  was  that  the 
existing  tariff  must  be  modified,  and,  instead,  one 
bordering  on  free  trade  established. 

In  the  Free  States.— During  this  period  (1816- 
1828),  so  progressive  compared  with  the  past,  great 
advances  were  made,  showing  the  energy  of  the 
people.  New  York  city  was  fast  becoming  the 
center  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States, 
because  of  her  position  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hud- 
son, and  now  (1825)  by  means  of  the  Erie  Canal 
in  connection  with  the  great  lakes  and  the  northern 
portion  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi ;  being  also 
further  west  and  nearer  the  center  of  the  States  than 
Boston,  which  in  commerce  had,  hitherto,  taken  the 
lead,  and  still  was  the  money  center  of  the  Union. 
The  two  cities  of  Boston  and  Philadelphia  gradually 
withdrew  a  large  portion  of  their  capital  invested  in 
6hi|)ping,  because  of  its  becoming  less  profitable. 
After  the    downfall  of   Napoleon   (1815),  and  the 


02  nn.lTU'M.    J'AHTJES. 

rlosing  of  till'  w  ;irs  kiinwii  l)y  his  n:iinr,  tlnir  iiu- 
monse  carryiiij;  tradr  ln'fjan  to  slip  out  of  the  liatids 
of  tlu>  Ainericans.  Tlic  French,  the  Germans,  the 
lloUaiulers,  nieanwliile,  were  recovering  their  coni- 
nu-rcial  marine,  wliich  liad  l)een  virtually  ruined 
iluriui;  the  twenty-five  years  of  these  wars  ;  while 
the  En<;lish,  owing  to  their  supremacy  ui)()n  the 
ocean,  hatl  kej)t  theirs  up  to  a  high  standard.  These 
nations  were  now  carrying  on  the  greater  part  of 
their  commerce  in  their  own  ships.  In  consequence, 
the  American  shippers  of  the  Free-Labor  States 
sought  other  outlets  for  their  capital,  and  turned 
their  attention  to  manufacturing  industries,  and 
were  so  much  aided  by  the  general  intelligence  of 
the  work])eople  employed,  that  they  succeeded 
well  in  that  field  of  enterprise. 

Boston  furnished  the  capital  that  established  the 
mills  of  Lowell  and  Lawrence,  and  indeed,  more  or 
less,  the  mills  up  the  Merrimac.  In  Rhode  Island, 
the  same  process  was  going  on,  and  Providence, 
where  the  first  successful  cotton  mill  in  the  L^niou 
was  established  in  1798,  rapidly  grew  into  a  manu- 
facturing city.  Philadelphia  was  largely  investing 
her  capital  in  two  branches  of  industry,  textile 
fabrics  and  iron.  Iron  ore  in  connection  with  coal 
was  found  in  the  mountains  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  some  of  her  valleys.  These  deposits  were  known 
to  be  rich  in  quality,  and  in  vast  quantities,  indeed 
presumed  to  be  inexhaustible  for  ages  to  come. 

Slavery  in  Politics.— This  period  is  remarkable, 
also,  for  the  lirst  prominent  disagreement  in  Con- 


LABOR  AND  INTELLIGENCE.  63 

gress  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  occasion  of 
tliis  discussion  and  action  was  the  admission  of  Mis- 
souri as  a  Slave  State,  by  the  enactment  of  the  fa- 
mous bill  known  as  the  Missouri  Compromise  (1820), 
Avhicli  guaranteed  that  all  territory  west  of  that 
State  and  north  of  its  southern  boundary  line 
should  be  forever  free.  Slavery  was  henceforth 
recognized  by  the  thoughtful  as  a  future  element 
of  great  influence  and  power  in  the  nation's  poli- 
tics, but  held  in  abeyance  only  for  the  time  being. 
In  the  treatment  of  the  question  it  was  evident, 
even  at  this  first  issue,  that  the  leaders  of  the  Dem- 
ocracy in  the  Free-Labor  States  sympathized  with 
the  slave-owners. 

Imported  Laborers. — During  this  period  be- 
gan also  a  large  immigration  to  this  county,  prin- 
cipally from  Ireland.  This  fact  was  first  noticed 
officially  in  a  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  in 
1819.  This  class  of  immigrants  were  nearly  all 
unskilled  laborers ;  that  is,  they  could  handle  the 
spade,  and  the  mattock,  or  jjickaxe,  and  were  era- 
ployed  in  digging  our  canals,  somewhat  in  grading 
railways,  and  in  carrrying  bricks  and  mortar  in 
building  our  cities.  At  that  time,  few  of  these 
were  even  so  far  skilled  as  to  work  in  brick  and 
stone,  as  masons,  and  unfortunately  great  numbers 
were  illiterate,  and  unable  to  inform  themselves  in 
respect  to  the  workings  of  our  government  and  in- 
stitutions. They  were  taken  in  hand  as  proteges  by 
certain  political  leaders.  To  the  Irishman  the  name 
"  Democrat  "  seems  to  have  a  peculiar  fascination. 


•  ;4  I'OLJTJCAL    IWRTIKS. 

'V\w  If-in  is  iiMiI  ill  till'  llritisli  Isles  and  on  the 
Contiiu'iit  :is  (iu-  direct  opiiosite  of  kingly  or  aris- 
tocratic rule  ;  and  the  peojtle  of  their  class  looked 
upon  such  rule  as  their  ])olitieal  enemy,  no  matter 
how  kiiul  and  just  the  government  might  be.  This 
led  the  Irishman,  when  he  landed  on  our  shores,  to 
sympathize  with  the  political  organization  known 
as  Democratic  without  stopping  to  learn  its  prin- 
ciples or  the  history  of  its  acts.  It  is  noticeable 
that  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  the  immigrants 
from  (lermany  or  Northern  Europe  connect  them- 
selves with  the  same  party,  though  they  come  from 
countries  where  the  governments  are  not  so  liberal 
as  that  of  Great  Britain.  The  solution  of  this  fact 
is  in  their  greater  intelligence. 

From  this  time  (1820),  onward,  we  find  the  Dem- 
ocratic organization,  as  such,  abetting  the  slave- 
holders in  their  every  demand,  and  itself  uniformly 
sustained  by  the  naturalized  citizens  of  Irish  birth. 


XI. 

TESTIMONY  OF  A  DEMOCRAT. 

Martin  Van  Buren,  in  his  "History  of  Poli- 
tics," seems  to  have  been  suspicious  of  the  intelli- 
gent portion  of  the  people,  who  happened  not  to  be 
found  in  the  ranks  of  the  Democracy ;  in  this  he  was 
in  sympathy  with  Jefferson  and  Jackson,  both  of 
M'hom  impugned  the  motives  of  those  who  differed 
from  themselves  in  political  opinions.  "Writing  of 
the  period  when  he  himself  Avas  in  political  life,  he 
says  :  "  The  press,  men  of  letters,  artists,  and  pro- 
fessional men,  of  every  denomination,  and  those 
engaged  in  subordinate  pursuits  Avho  live  upon 
luxurious  indulgences  of  the  rich,  are  all  brought 
within  the  scope  of  this  influence  "  (p.  225), — the 
"  money  power,"  meaning  the  Whigs.  This  latter 
epithet,  used  by  the  Democratic  speakers  and 
writers  of  that  day,  had  the  effect  of  prejudicing 
one  portion  of  the  community  against  another. 
And  again  :  "  It  is  perhaps  in  this  way  only,  that 
we  can  account  for  the  remarkable  disparity  in 
number  between  the  newspapers  and  other  period- 
icals advocating  Democratic  principles,  and  those 
which  support  the  '  money  power '  and  its  adher- 
ents [Whigs]  a  disparity  the  extent  of  which 
will  strike   any  one  who  visits  a  common  reading- 


tiG  POLITICAL  r ARTIES. 

room,  ill  whicli,  amid  the  wi'll-furnishod  sliflvcs  and 
full  lili's  of  llu' ]tul)lii'atioiis  of  tlu' latter  class  [Whig 
jtaj)i'rs],  it  is  ran-  that  we  liml  iiiaiiy  of  the  former 
[Democratic],  often  not  more  than  a  single  news- 
j)ai>er,  sc)metimes  not  one.  Yet  those  jiapers  which 
we  do  not  lind  there,  represent  the  j)olitical  princi- 
I>les  of  a  large  majority  of  the  people "  (p.  225). 
Again  :  "  Although  Hamilton's  policy  was  successful 
with  many,  it  failed  signally  [in  elections]  with  the 
most  numerous  and  consequently  the  most  powerful 
class  of  our  citizens,  those  engaged  in  agriculture." 
Further  on  :  "  Farmers  and  ]ilantcrs  are  the  main- 
stay of  the  Democratic  party,"  (p.  227).  These 
leaders  always  refer  to  the  number  of  the  votes,  and 
not  to  the  iiitellif/oice  of  the  voters.  Van  Buren 
ought  to  be  good  authority  on  the  subject.  Was  he 
aware  of  the  stigma  he  thus  placed  upon  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  members  of  his  own  political  party,  by 
rejjresenting  that  portion  of  the  peoi)le  presumed 
to  be  intelligent  and  of  refined  tastes,  as  not  in  sym- 
j)athy  with  it,  but  in  intimate  relations  with 
the  "Whigs,  whom  he  for  his  own  reasons,  charac- 
terized as  "rich  and  luxurious  "  ?  The  solution  of 
this  problem  was  not  found,  as  Mr.  Van  Buren  in- 
sinuates, in  the  influence  of  the  "money  power," 
as  he  characterized  the  intelligent  and  well-to-do 
classes,  but  in  the  fact  that  the  great  majority  of 
the  reading  and  thinking ^oxXxow  of  the  people  were 
not  in  sympathy  with  the  party  to  which  he  refers. 
Van  Buren  sjieaks  a])provingly  of  the  planters  and 
farmers  of  his  dav,  as  beini;  the  adherents  of  the 


TESTIMONY  OF  A  DEMOCRAT.  67 

Democratic  organization,  and  in  respect  to  its 
opponents,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  impugn  their 
principles  and  motives  by  declaring  that  they  "  were 
constructed  principally  of  a  network  of  special  inter- 
ests "  (p.  226).  But  the  planters  and  farmers  had  no 
foreign  competition,  and  they  needed  no  measure 
as  a  tariff  to  equalize  the  cost  of  production  between 
them  and  foreign  owners  and  cultivators  of  the  soil. 
The  Northern  farmer  of  that  time  had  no  foreign 
outlet  or  market  for  the  produce  of  his  fields,  while 
the  planter  had  for  his  cotton.  In  the  England  of 
that  day,  the  land  under  cultivation  was  sufficient, 
or  nearly  so,  to  produce  food  for  its  own  people, 
but  the  population  has  since  increased,  while  the  area 
cultivated  has  remained  about  the  same  ;  hence  the 
necessity  now  to  supplement  their  own  production 
of  food  by  importations  from  abi-oad.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  American  manufacturers  had  to  contend, 
not  only  with  the  low  wages  paid  workmen  in  Europe, 
but  with  the  acquired  skill  of  ages,  in  that  day  even 
much  greater  in  proportion  than  now.  Hamilton's 
famous  report  on  manufactures  in  Washington's 
administration  was  the  only  public  document  up  to 
that  time  that  unfolded  princiiDles  which,  if  applied, 
could  remedy  these  defects.  Yet  Van  Bm-en  laments, 
in  referring  to  this  report,  that  "  the  political  seed 
sown  by  Alexander  Hamilton  has  never  been 
eradicated — it  seems  not  susceptible  of  eradication  " 
(p.  227).  Of  course  not ;  and  why  ?  Because  time  has 
sliown  that  the  wisdom  and  principles  embodied  in 
that  report  have  had  the  sanction  to  this  day  of 


G8  rul.lTlCM.    PARTIES. 

the   great  majority   of   the   reading  and    thinking 
portion  of  the  American   peoi)le. 

Finally,  as  to  ]>arty  management,  Van  Buren  says : 
"A  ]>oliti('al  jiarty  [Wliig]  founded  on  such  principles 
and  looking  to  such  sources  for  its  support  does  not 
often  stand  in  need  of  caucuses  and  conventions  to 
preserve  harmony  in  its  ranks."  (p  220).  Certainly 
not ;  for  the  members  of  such  political  organization 
think  and  act  for  themselves.  The  animus  of  what  Mr 
Van  Buren  says  in  respect  to  the  managing  of 
political  parties,  is  clearly  derogatory  to  those  who 
were  sufficently  intelligent  to  comprehend  the  re- 
lations that  one  portion  of  the  nation  has  to  those 
of  another,  and  dared  act  accordingly ;  hut  its  prac- 
tical bearing  is  the  reverse. 

For  thirty-six  years  it  had  been  conceded  as  a 
matter  of  courtesy  to  the  Vice-President,  as  the  pre- 
siding officer  of  the  Senate,  to  appoint  the  commit- 
tees and  their  respective  chairmen.  During  the 
administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  John  C.  Cal- 
houn being  Vice-President,  a  necessai-y  change 
(182G)  was  introduced.  Though  in  quite  a  minor- 
ity, Calhoun  appointed  Democrats  on  the  more  im- 
portant committees  in  such  manner  as  to  give  them 
the  control  of  each  one.  Former  Vice-Presidents 
had  made  these  appointments  impartially.  This 
uncalled-for  action  of  Calhoun  became  the  occasion 
of  the  Senate  adopting  the  rule  which  still  obtains 
in  that  body,  to  elect  its  own  committees  by  ballot, 
and  also  designate  the  chairman  of  each.  (Johnston's 
American  Politics,  p.  96.) 


XII. 
POLITICAL  PATRONAGE. 

The  "  Demand  for  Spoils," — It  is  fitting  to  trace 
more  fully  how  the  custom  was  introduced  into  the 
politics  of  the  country,  the  principle  of  which 
is  tersely  expressed  by  the  aphorism,  "  to  the  victors 
belong  the  sj^oils." 

The  four  presidents  immediately  preceding 
Jackson, — Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe  and  John 
Quincy  Adams — were  educated  and  refined  gentle- 
men, and  judicious  in  the  exercise  of  the  duties  of 
their  office  in  resj^ect  to  the  appointments  of  sub- 
ordinates ;  in  consequence  they  held  the  radical 
Democracy  in  check.  But  now  the  latter  were  to 
have  their  own  president — "  one  of  the  people,"  as 
they  put  it.  In  the  presidential  election  of  1824, 
Jackson  had  more  electoral  votes  than  any  one  of 
the  other  candidates — his  vote  being  99,  Adams's 
84,  Crawford's  41,  and  Clay's  37.  Although  this  was  a 
minority  of  the  whole,the  Democracy,  whom  Jackson 
represented,  demanded  that  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives should  waive  its  independent  position  and 
choose  him  president,  simply  because  he  had  a 
plurality  though  not  a  majority  of  the  electoral 
votes,  as  required  by  the  Constitution. 

The  Kremer  Letter. — A  few  days  before  the 
House  was  to  act  on  the  subject,  there  appeared  in  a 


70  POLITIC  A  ].   r  ARTIES. 

couiitv  m'\vs]i;i|K'r  (if  rcmisvU  ;iwi:i  :i  li'ltcM*  over  the 
iiMiiu'  of  a  (HTtaiii  •■'•  lialf-iMlucatc'd "  incinlxT  of 
CniiLrrt'ss,  naiiuMl  KreiiuT,  from  a  rural  district  in 
llial  St.itc.  This  h'tter  statt'd  in  substance  tliat 
IKnrv  (lay,  whose  name  would  not  come  before  the 
House,  because  only  the  three  candidates  having 
the  hiirhest  number  of  electoral  votes  could  do  so — 
had  made  a  bargain  with  Mr.  Adams  to  the  effect 
tliat  he  (Clay)  would  throw  his  influence  in  favor  of 
the  former,  in  consideration  of  whicli,  Clay  was  to 
have  the  highest  j)osition  in  the  Cabinet — that  of 
Secretary  of  State.  This  story  W'as  known  to  be 
absolutely  false,  and  the  members  of  the  House, 
ignoring  it,  jiromptly  chose  Mr.  Adams.  The  letter 
was  not  written  by  its  rejiuted  author,  but  by  a  more 
]iractised  hand,  as  its  internal  evidence  and  proof 
afterward  adduced  made  manifest ;  but  when  an  in- 
vestigation was  attempted  Kremer  kept  out  of  the 
way,  and  could  not  be  produced  before  the  com- 
mittee. Nevertheless,  certain  newspapers  continued 
to  rejjeatthe  slander  during  the  four  years  preceding 
the  next  presidential  election ;  meanw^hile  always 
characterizing  its  spurious  author  as  "  Honest 
Kremer."  This  incident  is  mentioned  only  because 
of  the  influence  it  had  upon  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
Democracy  and  its  peculiar  resemblance  to  the 
coincidence  of  the  forged  "  Morey  letter,"  published 
in  the  interest  of  the  same  Democratic  parly  on  the 
eve  of  Garfield's  election  to  the  presidency  in  1880 
— fifty-six  years  later. 
Election    by  the  House.— The    House    chose 


POLITICAL  PATRONAGE.  71 

John  Quiucy  Adams  because  of  his  superior  qualifi- 
cations as  a  statesman,  and  in  this  view  Jackson  is 
said  to  have  at  first  acquiesced,  admitting  that  he, 
himself,  in  that  res])ect,  had  but  little  experience. 
But  to  be  easily  influenced  by  flattery  w^as,  unfor- 
tunately, one  of  the  traits  of  Andrew  Jackson,  and 
in  addition  he  was  like  Jefferson  in  imputing  sinister 
motives  to  those  who  differed  from  him  in  opinion  ; 
he  seemed  unable  to  recognize  good  qualities  in  his 
political  opponents,  and  to  his  dying  day  he  firmly 
believed  the  absurd  story  about  the  "Bargain." 
Says  Prof.  Sumner,  p.  (221),  "Jackson  was  a  rude 
soldier,  unlettered,  intractable,  arbitrary,  with  a 
violent  temper  and  a  most  despotic  will."  Morse  in 
his  X^■/e  of  Jeff er  son,]).  148,  says,  "In  a  blind  way, 
because  he  was  intellectually  immeasurably  below 
Jefferson,  but  with  the  same  instincts,  Andrew  Jack- 
son afterward  repeated  the  triumphs  of  the  former 
by  aid  of  the  same  classes  of  the  community." 
Which  classes  Prof.  Von  Hoist  characterized  as 
the  "  Radical  Democracy." 

Jackson  a  Candidate. — Immediately  after  the 
inauguration  of  Adams,  Jackson  Avas  taken  up,  es- 
pecially by  the  leaders  of  the  latter,  as  their  candidate 
for  1828  ;  meanwhile,  as  a  preliminary  process,  he 
was  beset  by  a  host  of  politicians  who  knew  his  sus- 
ceptibility to  flattery,  and  they  so  lauded  his  qualifi- 
cations to  be  President  of  the  United  States,  that  he 
himself  got  the  impression,  in  the  course  of  these 
intervening  years,  that  he  was  the  most  competent 
man  in  the  nation,  and  the  only  one  who  could  save 


7'J  I'OI.ITICAL   IWRTIES. 

tlu'  IJfpnMir  I  llo  scfini'd  also  to  bo  iiritatt'd  ; 
siiuH'  he  h;nl  Ix'cii  madi'  bolicve  tint,  sc^iu'liow,  he 
was  (U'fraudcd  nf  wliat  was  diu'  his  merit,  in  his  not 
having  l)oon  clioson  l»y  tlie  House  instead  of  Mr. 
Adams.  As  Prof.  Von  IIt)lst  puts  the  case  (II.  p. 
50), — "  A  narrow-minded  man  with  absolute  faith 
in  himself."  "His  election  was  the  triumph  of  the 
radical  over  the  moderate  Democracy."  And  now, 
"professional  politicians  and  the  crowd"  took  j)os- 
session  of  the  White  House. 

Jackson's  Theories  Changed.— It  may  bo  worth 
the  labor  to  trace  the  inHuoncos  that  )»ro(hiced  a 
change  in  the  political  theories  of  Andrew  Jackson. 
This  result  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  systematized 
efforts  of  "  professional  politicians."  When  James 
Monroe  was  about  to  assume  the  office  of  president^ 
Jackson  urged  him  "  to  exterminate  that  monster — 
j)arty  s])irit,"  saying  that  the  "  chief  magistrate  of  a 
great  and  j)OWorful  nation  should  never  indulge  in 
party  feelings."  Said  he, — "  Consult  no  party  in  your 
choice  of  your  ministry  or  cabinet,"  (  Von  JTolst,  II. 
p.  13).  Jackson  afterward  changed  his  mind  on 
this  ])hase  of  appointments  to  office — not  consciously, 
it  would  seem,  of  his  own  motion,  but  from  outside 
pressure,  which  influenced  him  by  appealing  to  his 
self-complacency.  The  leaders  of  the  time  were 
adroit ;  they  did  not  dare  assail  him  in  a  direct 
manner,  but  by  availing  themselves  of  this  weak 
point  in  his  character,  they  induced  him  to  do  what 
they  wished,  and  then  congratulated  him  for  his 
patriotism  in  saving  the  country,  thus  strengthening 


POLITICAL  PATROXACE.  73 

his  theory  that  he  alone  knew  what  to  do  in  the 
premises. 

"  The  Spoils." — The  evil  of  patronage  being  used 
for  ])olitical  or  partisan  purposes  had  been  increasing 
m  some  of  the  States,  but  as  yet  the  demoralizing 
influence  had  not  reached  the  administration  of  the 
National  government.  Notably  had  this  custom 
prevailed  in  New  York  ;  that  State  was  the  paradise 
of  politicians.  During  many  years  a  "Nominating 
Council "  named  the  candidates,  and  the  i-ank  and 
file  of  the  Democracy  never  failed  to  vote  as  thus 
directed.  This  "Council"  was  known  in  political 
annals  as  the  "Albany  Regency,"  and  its  j^residing 
genius  was  Martin  Yan  Buren,  who  managed  the 
whole  organization  with  marvelous  skill.  This 
peculiar  method  was  j^i'actised  in  that  State  for 
about  twenty  years.  (Article  "  Ifartin  Van  Buren  " 
in  AppletoiUs  Encyclopedia  and  Townsend's  Hist. 
of  Politics  in  Neio  York  State.)  Seeing  that  Jack- 
son was  the  coming  man,  and  having  an  inkling  of 
his  character,  Yan  Buren  began  to  oppose  the  ad- 
ministration of  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  finally 
carried  New  York  State  over  to  the  support  of  the 
former,  though  in  the  previous  presidential  election, 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  electoral  votes  of  the 
State  had  been  given  to  Adams.  From  that  time 
forward  Yan  Buren  stood  in  the  relation  to  Jackson 
of  a  protege. 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  appears  the  "  professional 
politician  "  at  Washington  ;  national  politics  became 
somewhat  a  game,  and  the  principles  and  a  manage- 


74  POLITICAL   I'AliTiKS. 

nu'nt  similar  to  that  wliic-h  had  been  successful  iiv 
the  Einj>ire  State,  were  to  be  a])|)lie(l  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  national  affairs.  Li  that  State 
orii^inated  the  custom  of  apjiointments  to  ottice  being 
made  for  jtartisan  reasons  alone  ;  in  which  custom 
the  interests  of  the  State  were  held  subordinate  to 
those  of  the  individual  who  received  the  oflice,  not 
because  of  his  fitness  to  fulfil  its  duties,  but  as  a 
reward  for  services  rendered.  William  L.  Marcy, 
when  United  States  Senator  from  New  York,  in 
commending  the  politicians  of  his  own  party  in  that 
State,  said, — "  They  boldly  jireach  what  they  jjrac- 
tise.  When  they  are  contending  for  victory,  they 
avow  their  intention  of  enjoying  the  fruits  of  it.  If 
they  are  defeated  they  expect  to  retire  from  office^ 
They  see  nothing  wrong  in  the  rule,  that  to  the 
victors  belong  the  spoils  of  the  enemy  "  (  Von  Ilolst^ 
IT.  ]..  20). 

Jackson's  New  Policy. — Andrew  Jackson's  in- 
tended policy  was  foreshadowed  in  the  newspapers 
of  his  party  ;  a  leading  one  announced, — "  We  take 
it  for  granted  that  he  [Jackson]  will  rev\\ard  his 
friends  and  punish  his  enemies ; "  that  is,  those 
who  differed  from  him  in  political  opinion.  John 
Quincy  Adams  sturdily  refused,  though  urged  in 
justice  to  himself,  and  his  success  as  president,  to 
remove  numbers  of  United  States  officials,  who,  in 
an  offensive  and  officious  manner,  were  in  the  habit 
of  opposing  the  policy  of  his  administration,  because 
lie  consistently  adhered  to  his  belief  in  the  jirinciple 
of  free  political  discussion  as  the  bhthi-ight  of  every 


POLITICAL  PATRONAGE.  75 

citizen,  whether  office-holder  or  not  ;  and  in  four 
years  he  removed  only  tico  persons  from  office. 
Mark  the  contrast !  The  majority  of  the  United 
States  Senate  belonged  to  the  opposition  about  to 
come  into  power,  and  when  toward  the  close  of  his 
administration.  President  Adams  sent  in  a  number 
of  nominations  of  gentlemen  to  fill  offices  that  had 
become  vacant  by  death  or  resignation,  the  Senate 
postponed  the  consideration  of  these  nominations  to 
a  day  beyond  the  4th  of  March  1829 — on  which  day 
Jackson  was  expected  to  be  inaugurated  as  pres- 
ident. 

The  latter  came  prepared  for  the  emergency, 
having  his  list  made  out  of  those  he  intended  to 
remove,  and  also  of  those  he  purposed  to  put  in 
their  places.  With  him  came,  likewise,  "  his  friends  " 
in  hundreds,  who  openly  demanded  that  he  should 
"  deprive  political  opponents  of  their  offices  and 
distribute  them  to  political  friends."  The  hitherto 
unquestioned  right  of  the  people  to  have  the  afiairs 
of  the  Nation  administered  wisely  and  economically, 
was  made  subordinate  to  this  new  system  of  sup- 
plying partisans  with  places.  Under  the  specious 
name  of  "  rotation  in  office,"  lay  the  assumption  that 
the  offices  of  the  government  were  the  property  of 
these  partisans,  a7id  to  be  used  by  them  in  turn — thus 
there  grew  up  a  new  order  of  things.  In  con- 
seqiience  the  most  sordid  and  selfish  passions  ex- 
hibited themselves  in  distorting  and  misrepresenting 
the  motives  and  conduct  of  those  whose  places  were 
wanted,  and  could  be  obtained  by  slander. 


7G  rolATlCAL    I'AUTlh'S. 

Intense  Patriotism.— Jackson,  tlu'  victim  of 
svstcmatu'  llattory,  iiiia<;ined  something  must  be 
wroii'T  in  nnv  statesman  who  differed  from  him  in 
})olitieal  opinion.  From  tliis  mere  sii|)]>osition,  it 
was  easv  for  one  of  his  peculiarly  arbitrary  nature 
to  pass  over,  perhaps  unconsciously,  to  the  feeling 
of  hostility  toward  such  statesmen.  This  mani- 
fested itself  in  acts  on  his  part  that  sometimes 
savored  of  vindictiveness;  and,  yet  in  A/."?  tcai/,  he 
was  intensely  patriotic,  and  verily  thought  he  was 
doing  the  country  service.  Under  the  circum- 
stances, perha])s,  he  has  been  censured  too  much  for 
liis  adoption  of  the  Xew  York  system,  as  introduced 
indirectly  by  Van  Buren,  who  was  his  Secretary  of 
State  and  most  confidential  sitggester. 

As  has  been  noticed,  to  his  inauguration  came 
hundreds  of  his  friends,  who  were  made  believe 
they  had  saved  the  country  by  electing  him  presi- 
dent, and  they  were  clamoring  for  their  reward,  as 
the  aiders  and  abettors  of  his  election  ;  says  Von 
Hoist :  "  Their  most  forcible  arguments  being  the 
erection  of  '  hickory  poles,'  and  '  hurrahs  for  Jack- 
son' "  (Vol.  II.,  p.  10).  His  inaugural  stated 
that  the  "  task  of  reform "  was  imposed  upon  the 
Executive,  and  he  commenced  a  general  and  in- 
discriminate removal  from  office  of  those  who  dif- 
fered from  him  in  political  o\)imon— all  for  the 
yood  of  the  country. 

Removals  and  Appointments. — The  presidents, 
hitherto,  had  made  appointmejits  to  office,  because 
of  the  comjietency  and  integrity  of  the  appointee, 


POLITICAL  PAntOXAGE.  77 

and  not  for  partisan  purposes.  The  same  principle 
prevailed  in  respect  to  removals,  none  being  made 
except  for  cause,  and  designed  to  protect  or  aid 
the  interests  of  the  whole  nation.  For  illustration, 
Washington  removed  nine  persons  from  office,  John 
Adams,  10;  Jefferson,  39 ;  Madison,  5;  Monroe,  9; 
and  John  Quincy  Adams,  2;  in  all  74 — this  was 
during  forty  years.  But  Jackson,  the  representa- 
tive of  radical  opinions,  and  under  their  pressure, 
luiceremoniously  removed,  and  put  his  own  partisans 
in  their  places,  230  officials  of  higher  rank,  and  760 
postmasters  and  subordinate  officers — in  all  990. 
Numbers  of  these  had  held  office  under  Madison 
and  Monroe,  and  were  continued  under  John 
Quincy  Adams  because  of  their  competency.  Here 
was  the  introduction  of  the  most  corrupting  element 
in  the  politics  of  the  Nation.  For  twelve  successive 
years  the  rule  in  the  National  government,  in  this 
respect,  was  strict  and  unrelenting ;  and  then  for 
about  two  years  (1841-1843)  under  Tyler,  there 
was  a  little  relaxation ;  then,  after  another  four 
years  under  Polk,  came  Taylor  and  Fillmore,  repre- 
sented by  a  medley  of  removals  and  ajjpointments ; 
then  came  back  the  old  Jacksonian  custom  in  all 
its  vigor,  for  eight  years,  under  Fierce  and  Buchanan, 
terminating  March  4th,  1861,  when  the  circum- 
stances had  become  radically  changed,  and  many  of 
the  incumbents  were  so  disloyal,  that  it  Avas  abso- 
lutely essential  for  the  safety  of  the  Union  that 
their  places  should  be  filled  by  loyal  men,  with- 
out much  reference  to  their  theoretical  political 
opinions. 


78  VOIATICAL   rAliTJh'S. 

Disreg-ard  of  Constituted  Law. — Jackson  came 
to  tlu'  juisiihiilial  cliair  as  llie  idol  of  the  radical 
wing  of  iIk'  ])c'nu)cTacy — one  of  themselves — and 
his  overbearing  character,  tyrannical  manners,  and 
ilisregard  of  constituted  law,  became  virtues  in  the 
eves  uf  his  ardi'nt  followers.  From  this  time  for- 
ward the  intiiience  of  statesmen  of  a  liigli  order  be- 
g:in  to  bi'  made  siil)ordinate  to  the  crowd  of  "  pro- 
ft'ssional  jioliticians,"  by  Ix'ing  outvoted  on  the  floor 
of  Congress  by  the  adherents  and  tools  of  the  "  pro- 
fessionals." The  arbitrary  sway  of  this  "idol  of 
the  Democracy"  was  almost  unendurable,  yet  he 
was  sustained  and  lauded  by  those  who  were  con- 
tinually j>rating  about  liberty  and  all  that.  Said 
Justice  Story — a  Democrat:  "I  confess  that  I  feel 
humiliated  at  the  truth,  which  cannot  be  disguised, 
that  though  we  live  under  the  form  of  a  republic, 
we  are,  in  fact,  iinder  the  rule  of  a  single  man." 
(Life  of  Story,  II.,  p.  15.) 

"  The  Su])reme  Court  had  not  failed  to  pursue  the 
organic  develojmient  of  the  Constitution,  and  it  had 
on  every  occasion  in  which  it  was  ])ut  to  the  test, 
proved  the  Ijulwark  of  constitutional  liberty,  by  the 
steadiness  and  solidity  of  judgment  with  which  it 
had  established  the  interpretation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion." "Xo  man  can  be  named  to  whom  the  nation 
is  more  indebted  for  solid  and  far-reaching  services 
than  to  John  Marshall "  (Sumner's  Life  of  Jackson, 
p.  361).  "  The  master-mind  of  Chief  Justice  Mar- 
shall laid  the  foundation  of  a  school  of  Constitu- 
tional interpretation  which  is  now  completely  in  the 


POLITICAL  PATBONAGE.  79 

ascendant."  (Edward  Stanwood,  Atlantic  Montldy^ 
May,  1884,  p.  701.) 

At  the  commencement  of  his  presidency,  Jack- 
son prochiimed  that  he  himself  would  act  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Constitution,  as  he  understood  it. 
This  is  the  first  enunciation  of  that  theory  in  our 
history.  Jackson  continued  to  disregard  the  inter- 
pretation given  of  that  instrument  by  the  Supreme 
Court,  if  it  did  not  agree  with  his  own  notions.  He 
even  went  so  far,  in  one  of  his  veto  messages,  to 
announce,  that  "each  public  officer  who  takes  an 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  swears  that  he 
will  support  it  as  he  understands  it,  and  not  as  it  is 
understood  by  others"  {Von  Hoist,  II.,  p.  49). 
This  theoi-y  opened  a  wide  field  for  disregarding 
constituted  law.  The  influence  extended,  and  we 
even  find  Democratic  officials  sometimes  applying 
the  same  principles  of  action  and  interpretation  to 
the  laws  and  constitutions  of  the  States,  that  Jack- 
son applied  to  those  of  tlie  United  States. 

Jackson  Managed.  —  Senator  Poindexter,  of 
Mississippi,  tells  how  Van  Buren  managed  Jackson. 
Should  he  have  a  scheme  in  which  he  wished  to  in- 
terest the  General,  he  would  give  him  a  hint  of  it. 
The  latter  would  say,  "Eh!"  Van  Buren  would 
adroitly  change  the  subject,  but  erelong  allude  to  it 
again.  The  General,  now,  would  ask,  "  How's  that  ?  " 
Van  Buren  would  evade  the  answer  ;  but  he  had  set 
the  General  thinking,  who  himself  would  soon  after 
broach  the  subject ;  then  Van  Buren  would  exclaim, 
"What  a  grand,  a  glorious  idea  !  No  man  in  the 
laud  would  have  thought  of  it  but  yourself." 


XIII. 
UNITED  STATES  BANKING. 

Uniform  Currency. — The  necessity  for  some 
medium  by  which  exchange  could  be  facilitated  be- 
came apparent  toward  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
strujifgle,  and  the  Bank  of  North  America  was 
established  in  1781  for  a  period  of  ten  years,  at  the 
recommendation  of  Robert  Morris,  the  celebrated 
financier  of  that  period.  {American  People,  j).  544.) 
This  institution  was  of  immense  advantage  to  the 
cause  of  Independence  in  its  closing  struggles. 
Then  again  at  the  commencement  of  Washington's 
administration,  when  the  United  States  govern- 
ment was  inaugurated,  Congress  took  a  com])rehen- 
sive  view  of  the  situation,  and  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  chartered  a  National  bank  (1792),  for 
twenty  yeai's,  with  the  privilege  of  having  branches 
in  any  of  the  States.  This  bank  was  of  very  great 
advantage  in  promoting  exchanges  in  commerce 
and  thus  encouraging  the  industries  of  the  people. 
When  this  charter  had  expired  and  the  affairs  of  the 
bank  wound  up  toward  the  close  of  the  war  of 
1812,  another  United  States  bank  was  chartered 
(181G)  for  twenty  years,  which  charter  expired  in 
1836.  This  bank  commenced  operations  in  Phila- 
delphia, March  4,  1817,  and   in  connection  with   its 


UNITED  STATES  BANKING.  81 

branches — numbering  twenty-five — in  other  States, 
afforded  the  people  a  uniform  currency  redeemable 
at  all  times  in  gold  and  silver.  {American  People, 
]).  G8G.)  These  banks,  the  latter  especially,  fulfilled 
their  ])arts  well  and  were  of  immense  value  to  the 
commerce  and  the  industries  of  the  people  in  afford- 
ing facilities  in  moneyed  transactions  throughout 
the  Union. 

The  U.  S.  Bank  Opposed. — The  Southern  states- 
men for  the  greater  part  opposed  a  United  States 
bank,  "  because  it  would  faciliate  the  borrowing  of 
money  by  the  government,"  {Deb.  in  Co7igress  I. 
p.  287) ;  and  Jefferson  was  even  in  favor  of  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  by  which  "the 
United  States  government  would  not  have  the 
power  to  make  loans "  ( Works,  IV.  p.  260). 
Still  another  objection  was  "  that  the  bank  Avould 
be  of  advantage  only  to  the  mercantile  interests." 
{Deb.  in  Congress,  I.  p.  272.)  Prof.  Sumner  gives 
one  of  the  current  objections  to  the  old  bank  when 
he  says  :  "  the  Democrats  opposed  it  as  aristocratic, 
federalistic ;  a  dangerous  political  engine,  because 
its  stock  was  partly  held  by  foreign  noblemen " 
(p.  229),  and  Jefferson  as  expressed  in  his  private 
correspondence,  held  similar  views.  This  unreason- 
able feeling  of  hostility  to  anything  English,  ex- 
tending from  the  leaders,  pervaded  the  minds  of 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  Democracy.  They  seemed 
unable  to  comprehend  that  capital,  no  matter  whence 
derived,  invested  for  instance  in  our  internal  im- 
provements, was  aiding  the  industrial  ])r(>gress  of 


83  Pi)  LIT  I  CM.   PAHTIK8. 

the  cotititi  V.  The  writ  IT,  wljcii  a  hoy,  once  heard 
two  staunch  Democrats  himentiiig  that  English 
RtockhoMcrs  owned  a  portion  of  the  Pennsylvania 
canal,  an<l  what  was  still  more  alarming,  rumor  said, 
they  would  soon  own  the  wliole.  These  two  worthy 
men  feared  that  in  case  of  war  the  P^nglish  could 
t^^r  f/m'r  own  canal  in  moving  their  troo])s  and 
artillery.  But  Avas  this  fear  any  more  absurd  than 
the  objections  just  noted  ? 

In  1815,  and  for  many  years  afterward,  Boston 
•was  the  money  center  of  the  Union.  The  Xew 
Englanders  had  been  industrious  in  manufacturing, 
but  csjjecially  in  sea-faring  in  its  various  forms,  and 
had  managed  their  financial  matters  on  common- 
sense  principles,  and  thus  were  able  to  continue 
specie  payments.  Sometimes  they  took  tlie  notes 
of  banks  outside,  but  at  their  depi-eciated  rates  or 
intrinsic  value,  and  sometimes,  when  tliey  were 
"worthless,  not  at  all,  and  instead  demanded  coin, 
hence  the  accumulation  of  silver  in  their  vaults, 
and  when  it  was  in  excess  they  exported  it.  For 
this  legitimate  business  they  w'ere  denounced  by 
those  parties  who  through  their  own  mismanage- 
ment had  brought  on  the  financial  distress  that 
existed  outside  Xew  England. 

Jackson  Vetoes  its  Renewed  Charter. — A 
new  order  of  financiering  came  into  power  with 
Andrew  Jackson  at  its  head,  the  latter  announcing 
a  most  determined  opposition  to  the  United  States 
Bank,  even  before  it  applied  for  a  renewal  of  its 
charter,  which  expired  in  1836.     Congi-ess  passed  a 


UNITED  STATES  BANKING.  83 

bill  renewing  its  ehartei",  which  the  President  vetoed. 
Jackson  was  not  reckoned,  even  by  his  admirers,  to 
be  learned  in  constitntional  law  ;  yet  he  had  the 
audacity  to  declare  he  did  not  deem  it  constitutional 
for  Congress  to  charter  a  United  States  or  National 
bank.  There  had  been  three  such  charters  already 
given,  as  we  have  seen — two  since  the  inauguration 
of  the  National  Government.  Their  charters  were 
held  to  be  constitutional  by  an  express  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court — the  legitimate  authority  ;  in 
addition  the  same  was  approved  by  Madison  and 
the  most  learned  jurists  of  the  Nation.  Yet  Jack- 
son, in  his  self-com])lacent  ignorance  of  the  funda- 
mental law  of  the  land,  placed  himself  in  opposition 
to  these  judicial  decisions  and  vetoed  the  bill  to 
renew  the  charter  of  the  bank.  Jackson  "  set  up 
his  own  arbitrary  will  against  the  judgment  of  two 
congresses,  two  presidents  of  great  authority,  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  the  gen- 
eral acquiescence  of  the  Nation  on  a  question  of 
constitutional  construction."  (Judge  Curtiss'  Life 
of  James  Buchanan.,  I.  p.  414.) 

Chaos. — The  Bank  had  been  of  immense  advan- 
tage to  the  whole  country  in  facilitating  mercantile 
exchanges.  Had  it  not  been  for  certain  pet  notions 
of  leading  Democratic  statesmen,  a  Bank  might 
have  been  chartered,  which  in  its  legitimate  functions 
could  have  been  a  "  financial  agent "  for  the  whole 
land  ;  and  thus  saved  annually  millions  on  millions 
in  exchange  or  discounts  to  the  people  in  their  trade 
with  each  other  in  the  different  States  and  sections. 


84  POLITIC  A  I.    l'AliTlK>^. 

But  after  a  charter  was  denied  the  Bank  f?iving  it  a 
national  character,  there  sprang  into  existence  an 
unusual  number  of  banks,  under  the  authority  of 
the  several  States,  and  in  additioti  great  numbers  of 
private  ones,  that  were  virtually  irresj)onsible.  For 
the  most  part  the  charters  given  by  the  States  were 
loosely  drawn,  and  thus  afforded  facilities  for  de- 
frauding that  innocent  victim — the  jiublic.  Says 
Prof.  Sumner, — "  Ninety-nine  in  one  hundred  of 
these  banks  (outside  New  England)  were  pure 
swindles.  They  had  no  capital ;  by  issuing  notes 
they  borrowed  instead  of  lending,  and  they  paid  no 
interest,"  (p.  230).  In  a  thousand  ways  they  were 
vicious,  and  lost  their  credit ;  the  result  was  a  con- 
tinuous and  enormous  exj^ense  in  the  way  of  dis- 
counts or  exchange,  when  merchants  did  business 
at  a  distance  or  out  of  their  own  States.  This  im- 
mense tax  fell  upon  the  people,  who  were  the  con- 
sumers, as  it  enhanced  the  price  of  almost  every 
article.  The  necessity  to  pay  these  discounts 
brought  into  existence  hordes  of  brokers,  who 
entered  upon  the  business  of  conducting  these  ex- 
changes, and  their  commissions  were  just  so  much 
loss  to  the  people  at  large,  while  they  themselves 
were  non-producers,  but  acquiring  fortunes  in  con- 
sequence of  the  financial  disorders  thus  introduced 
in  the  commercial  world.  These  banks,  for  the 
greater  part,  were  continually  going  into  liquidation 
and  defrauding  their  customers,  while  their  places 
were  supplied  by  others  which  usually  went  through 
a  similar  process. 


UNITED  STATES  BANKING.  85 

Who  -were  to  Blame. — Why  may  not  these 
Democratic  statesmen  be  justly  held  responsible  for 
these  immense  losses  to  the  people,  from  1836  to 
1863  ?  Had  it  not  been  for  their  peculiar  notions 
on  the  subject  of  the  finances,  they  could  have  de- 
vised a  national  banking  institution,  which  might 
have  been  so  guarded  in  its  provisions  as  to  prevent 
fraud,  and  have  been  of  almost  incalculable  advan- 
tage to  the  business  interests  of  the  whole  land.  A 
bill  designed  to  accomplish  this  end  was  introduced 
and  supported  by  the  Whigs  ;  it  passed  Congress  to 
be  vetoed  by  John  Tyler  who  played  into  the  hands 
of  the  opposition  leaders.  Thus  time  passed  on, 
and  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  people  were 
enormously  taxed  in  the  form  of  discounts,  which 
enhanced  the  price  of  every  article  supplied  from  a 
distance.  The  theory  of  not  having  a  financial  agent 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  the  whole  Union, 
was  only  another  form  of  the  influence  of  the  dog- 
ma of  State  Rights  or  Sovereignty.  A  national 
banking  system  would  have  had  the  effect  of  bind- 
ing the  people  of  the  different  sections  more  inti- 
mately in  their  business  relations,  and  the  moneyed 
interest  of  the  Nation,  thus  united,  would  have 
been  a  great  impediment  in  the  way  of  those  who, 
for  years,  were  laying  plans  to  break  up  the  Union. 
These  gentlemen  chuckled  over  every  alienation  of 
feeling  that  grew  up  between  the  Free  and  the 
Slave-Labor  States,  whether  it  was  in  business,  in 
governmental  policy  or  in  church  relations. 

It  may  be  said  any  political  organization  is  liable 


86  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

to  make  mlstakos;  that  is  true,  but  no  party  or 
nrtranizatioii  lias  a  riirlit  to  introduce  measures  of 
Fuc-h  tU>ul)tful  utility,  no  matter  how  sincere  they 
maybe  in  their  motives.  Tlie  leadini?  minds  amont? 
the  Whites — Clay,  Webster,  Seward  and  others — 
nnd  commercial  men,  bankers,  merchants,  etc — 
members  of  both  ]>olitical  parties — in  every 
section  of  the  country,  almost  invariably  pointed 
out  the  bad  results  of  such  injudicious  legis- 
lation— but  without  avail.  The  i)rophecies  of 
these  statesmen  and  experienced  financiers  were 
fulfilled  almost  literally.  In  the  days  of  Andrew 
Jackson  and  Thomas  H.  Benton,  the  Democratic 
party  prided  itself  on  being  in  favor  of  hard  money 
to  such  an  extent  that  they  did  not  wish  the  Treas- 
ury to  transfer  funds  by  check — but  it  must  be  done 
literally  by  gold  and  silver.  "  As  there  was  then  " — 
since  the  destruction  of  the  United  States  Bank — 
*'  no  efficient  means  by  which  the  Government  could 
transfer  funds  as  they  were  wanted,  from  place  to 
place  by  any  ])aper  representative  of  equal  credit 
throughout  the  Union,  specie  had  to  be  moved  to 
and  fro  in  masses  and  under  guard."  ( Curtiss^  ^Af'^ 
of  James  BucJianan^  p.  410.)  The  legislatures 
that  were  under  the  same  influence  forbade  the 
banks  having  charters  from  their  respective  States 
issuing  bills  in  amount  less  than  five  dollars.  The 
design  was  to  compel  the  people  to  use  silver  in 
mercantile  transactions — but  the  latter  refused  to 
subject  themselves  to  the  inconvenience,  and  instead 
used  the   notes   of   smaller  denominations,  though 


UNITED  STATES  BANKING.  87 

they  were  issued  by  banks    in    neighboring  States, 
and  were  often  at  a  discount. 

The  False  Electioneering  Cry. — It  is  proper  to 
notice  that  the  cry  of  Reform  by  Democratic  leaders, 
so  effective  in  overthrowing  the  administration  of 
John  Quincy  Adams,  was  based  on  charges,  known 
to  be  absolutely  false,  but  they  were  implicitly  be- 
iieved  to  be  true  by  the  unenlightened,  who  voted 
as  their  leaders  dictated.  It  would  not  be  compli- 
mentary to  the  intelligence  of  the  prime  movers  of 
this  crusade,  to  say  they  believed  these  charges, 
while  the  manner  in  which  they  i)ersisted  in  pro- 
claiming them,  and  thus  gained  their  end,  damages 
the  moral  character  of  their  ])olitical  honesty.  This 
same  administration,  since  the  motive  for  slander- 
ing it  has  disappeared,  has  been  referred  to  by 
speakers  and  writers,  perhaps  oftener  than  any 
other,  as  a  model  of  economy  in  expenditure  and 
the  general  progress  of  the  country.  It  was  a 
period  of  four  years  of  unparalleled  prosperity  when 
compared  with  previous  administrations ;  while 
greatly  diminishing  the  national  debt,  it  left  five 
million  dollars  as  a  surplus  in  the  treasury  ;  the 
same  financial  influence  passed  over  into  the  suc- 
ceeding administration  of  Jackson,  and  finally  led 
to  the  paying  off  of  the  entire  debt.  The  people 
had  been  gradually  advancing  in  wealth  and  in  the 
blessings  of  peace  ;  every  branch  of  industry  was 
])rosperous, —  agriculture,  manufactures  and  com- 
merce,— while  the  Nation,  thus  rapidly  gaining  in 
strength    at   home,   was     also  securing    more    and 


8S  m  LI  TIC  AT.    PARTIES. 

moro  tho  rosi)Oct  of  the  govcMiimciits  of  the  civilized 
worl.l  ;  vet,  in  the  faec  of  this  extraordinary  pros- 
j>eritv  the  uneidightcncd  Democracy — the  leaders 
,H>ver — were  induced  to  believe  the  country  was 
going  to  ruin,  and  Jackson  was  carried  by  their 
votes  into  the  Presidential  chair.  It  is  a  remarka- 
ble coincidence  that  in  much  the  same  manner, 
John  Adams  had  been  displaced  by  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son. 

Reproof  of  Van  Buren. — It  is  astonishing  how 
far  party  spirit  will  often  censure  that  whicli  ap- 
]K>ars  just  and  proper  in  the  eyes  of  posterity.  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  when  President  Jackson's  Secretary  of 
State  (1829),  had  instructed  John  McLean — after- 
ward one  of  the  justices  of  the  United  States  Court 
— as  Minister  to  England  "  to  reopen  negotiations  on 
the  subject  of  the  West  India  trade,"  and  in  so 
doing  had  reflected  on  the  previous  administration 
(that  of  John  Quincy  Adams),  saying  that  the])arty 
in  power  "  Avould  not  sup])ort  the  pretensions  of  its 
predecessor."  This  undignified  and  unworthy 
exhibition  of  partisanship  was  not  overlooked  by 
those  who  had  regard  to  the  dignity  and  self-re- 
spect of  the  Nation  as  superior  to  any  political  or- 
ganization. Accordingly,  when  afterward  (1831) 
Jackson  nominated  Van  Buren  as  Minister  to  Eng- 
land, the  Senate  refused  to  confirm  the  nomination, 
though  he  liad  already  set  oiit  on  the  mission.  This 
they  did  on  the  ground  of  the  objectionable  instruo 
tions  to  which  allusion  has  been  made.  The  re- 
jection was  designed  as  a  "  rebuke  upon  the  first," 


UNITED  STATES  n.iXKIXG.  89 

and  we  may  say  only,  "  instance  in  which  an  Amer- 
ican jMinister,  had  been  sent  abroad  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  his  parti/,  and  not  as  the  representative 
of  his  country^  Strange  to  say  the  whole  Demo- 
cracy were  incensed  beyond  measure  at  this  digni- 
fied and  self-respecting  action  of  the  Senate  in  re- 
senting the  slight  thus  thrown  upon  the  Nation  it- 
self by  a  Secretary  of  State.  The  cry  of  persecution 
was  raised.  All  other  considerations  were  ovei-- 
looked  amid  the  furor  thus  excited,  and  Van 
Buren  henceforth  became  more  than  ever  the  pro- 
tege of  Jackson,  while  this  reproof  had  much  to  do 
with  his  nomination  and  election  to  the  Presidency. 


XIV. 
DI PORTS    AND    CLTRRENCY. 

Northern  and  Southern  Tariff  Views.— Wliile 
energy,  intelligence  and  perseverance  in  the  North 
were  carrying  forward  manufacturing  industries 
M'ith  unj>recedented  vigor,  a  univei'sal  dej)rcssion 
brooded  over  similar  industries  in  the  South  (1818- 
1833).  In  the  former  the  whole  ])eo])le,  in  various 
forms,  were  industrious,  wliile  in  the  latter,  with 
few  exceptions,  only  the  slaves  worked.  In  the  one 
section  the  ])lanters  went  on  from  year  to  year 
raising  only  cotton  or  tobacco,  never  fertilizing  the 
soil  but  exhausting  it  so  much  that  in  a  short  time 
it  became  barren  and  unfruitful ;  in  the  othei*  the 
farmers  cultivated  all  the  crops  suitable  to  the  soil  and 
climate,  fertilizing  their  fields  and  making  them  from 
year  to  year  more  .and  more  productive.  In  the  one 
section  labor  was  despised — in  the  other  respected. 
In  those  days,  and  after  the  attempt  at  Nullification, 
it  was  customary  for  the  ordinary  slave-owners  of  a 
neighborhood  to  meet  once  or  twice  a  week,  usually 
"Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  at  some  central  jioint, 
a  village  or  Court  House,  and  discuss  ])olitirs,  while 
the  more  prominent  were  frequently  engaged  in  the 
non-productive  enteri)rise  of  meeting  in  yearly  con- 
ventions and  discussing  wliy  it  was,  as  Senator 
McDuffie  complained  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  tliat 


IMPOIiTS  AND  CURRENCY.  91 

in  the  Southern  States  were  seen  "  deserted  villages, 
houses  falling  to  ruin,  and  impoverished  lands  thrown 
out  of  cultivation."  This  result  these  political 
economists  attributed  to  the  influence  of  the  existing 
tai-iff !  It  did  not  occur  to  them  that  had  they  been 
as  industrious  and  provident  as  the  people  of  the 
Free-Labor  States,  their  success  would  have  been 
equally  great,  and  that  in  addition  they  had  a  decided 
advantage  in  a  climate  and  a  soil  that  gave  them 
the  monopoly  of  the  world  in  the  production  of 
cotton. 

The  people  of  the  North — on  the  whole  indus- 
trious and  economical — paid  as  they  went,  while 
those  of  the  South  contracted  the  improvident  habit 
of  being  behind  hand,  at  least  a  full  year,  and  often 
more  ;  in  consequence  buying  their  supi)lies  at  exor- 
bitant prices,  and  on  this  debt  thus  enhanced  paying 
usually  a  heavy  interest.  This  system  of  conducting 
mercantile  transactions  was  I'liinous  in  the  extreme. 
But  the  owners  of  slaves,  assuming  that  the  tariff 
was  in  some  way  the  cause  of  their  ill  success,  and 
not  recognizing  the  true  reason — idleness  and  want 
of  foresight — determined  to  break  iip  the  industries 
of  the  coimtry  by  lowering  the  tariff  under  which 
they  had  been  so  siiccessfully  carried  on.  The 
remedy  they  proposed  was  virtually  free  trade. 

The  planters  could  purchase  their  main  supplies 
in  the  Free-Labor  States,  but  an  antagonism  toward 
the  North  had  come  into  existence  within  a  few 
years,  that  preferred  free  trade  or  nearly  so,  in  order 
that  they  might  obtain  certain  manufactured  articles 


\)2  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

from  Kiiulaiitl— tlie  |)niUMi)nl  market  for  iheir  raw 
cotton,  rather  than  from  the  factories  of  their  own 
country.  They  manifested  but  little  sympathy  for 
National  success,  as  such;  even  if  for  obvious 
causes,  they  themselves  failed,  there  was  no  reason 
or  justice,  why  an  unrelenting  war  should  be  waged 
ii|>on  tiie  industries  of  the  Free-Labor  States,  and 
the  wages  of  those  who  worked  in  factories  reduced 
to  a  level  with  those  paid  in  Europe.  The  slave- 
owners assumed  that  they  would  be  safe  in  either 
case,  as  they  ))roduced  raw  cotton  which  Eurojie 
7nf(st  bin/.  This  was  the  animus  of  the  movement? 
which,  after  a  few  years,  led  to  an  attempt  at  nullifi- 
cation by  South  Carolina.  That  State  was  only 
more  bold  than  Virginia  and  Georgia,  as  the  latter 
two  professed  to  be  equally  opposed  to  a  tariff  that 
encouraged  mechanical  industries,  except  "  incident- 
ally," as  they  termed  it. 

Nullification.  —  Corapro raise  Tariff.  —  Then 
came  the  decisive  contest  in  respect  to  nullification, 
or  the  determination  of  South  Carolina  not  to 
permit  the  United  States  authorities  to  collect  within 
her  i)orts  the  duties  levied  on  merchandise  brought 
from  abroad.  (American  People.,  ])p.  718-720,  and 
721-724.)  President  Jackson,  in  the  crisis,  showed 
his  maidy  strength  in  sustaining  the  Federal  dignity  ; 
but  Congress  backed  down  in  passing  the  Com- 
promise Act,  introduced  by  Henry  Clay  as  a  peace 
measure.  {American  People.,  p.  725.)  By  this  Act 
the  Tariff  was  to  be  gradually  lowered,  to  what  was 
termed  a  "horizontal  tariff"  of  20  per  cent. — every 


IMPORTS  AND  CUIiRENCV.  93 

article  coming  in  under  that  rate  of  tluty.  Tlie 
theory  was  that  the  tariff  thus  modified  would  afford 
sufficient  revenue  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
government  and,  also,  give  incidental  protection  to 
industry.  By  this  compromise  bill  annual  reductions 
were  to  be  made  of  1-lOth  per  cent,  on  the  value  of 
duties  above  20  per  cent,  for  ei^/it  successive  years — 
terminating  Sept.  1842 — so  that  the  reduction  of  all 
duties  was  to  be  brought  by  that  time  to  a  uniform 
rate  of  20  per  cent. — except  on  about  100  articles 
which  were  to  come  in  free.  When  this  rate  arrived 
at  the  "horizontal"  20  per  cent,  it  became  our  first 
example  of  a  "  tariff  for  revenue  only."  In  accord- 
ance with  this  duty  of  20cts  on  every  100  or  one 
dollar,  it  would  result  from  the  average  wages  paid 
at  this  time  (1883)  in  Europe,  that  in  producing  an 
article  costing  one  dollar  in  wages — the  other  ex- 
penses being  equal — the  English  manufacturer  would 
have  over  the  American  the  advantage  of  30cts; 
the  French  and  German,  47 ;  the  Italian,  55.  That 
is,  the  American  manufacturer  paid  lOOcts  in  wages 
where  the  English  pays  50 ;  the  French,  33  ;  the 
Germans,  33  ;  and  the  Italian  25. 

Almost  immediately  on  the  passage  of  this  bill, 
those  engaged  in  manufacturing,  as  a  matter  of 
prudence,  commenced  to  curtail  their  operations 
(1833),  and  in  consequence,  the  wages  paid  work- 
men began  also  to  decline.  Ere  long  it  became 
known  that  in  making  many  articles,  the  American 
manufacturers  could  not  compete  with  those  of 
Europe,  where   the   operatives   received  so  much 


'.••4  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

lowiT  wall's.  Moimwliilo  the  rate  of  tlie  tariff  con- 
tinued to  (liniinish  on  all  inerchaiulisc,  and  American 
production  of  articles  coni])Cting  directly  with  those 
made  in  Enro])e  ceased  almost  entirely.  The  whole 
Nation  virtually  stood  idle;  bought  in  Europe,  and 
went  in  debt  for  the  class  of  goods  it  used  to  make 
for  itself.  Though  the  tariff  was  lower  than  ever 
before,  the  revenue  was  much  gi-eater,  owing  to  the 
vast  amount  of  foreign  merchandise  that  was  im- 
ported. The  National  debt  was  paid  off  in  1835, 
and  within  two  years  there  was  a  surplus  of  about 
840,000,000  in  the  treasury.  This  apparent  success 
Avas  at  the  expense  of  the  ruin  of  the  industrial 
interests  of  the  country — the  raising  of  cotton  being 
the  only  exception.  The  government  was  rich, 
and  the  people  bankrupt.  In  November,  183G,  the 
peojde  elected,  as  Jackson's  successor,  Martin  Van 
Burcn,  the  Democratic  candidate. 

The  Crash  and  the  Uprising. — Congress,  at  a 
loss  what  to  do  with  the  surplus  revenue  on  hand, 
finally  decided  to  distribute  $37,408,819  of  it  among 
the  States  in  four  quarterly  installments,  and  in 
])roportion  to  their  respective  population  or  rej^re- 
sentation  in  the  Lower  House  in  Congress.  Three 
of  these  installments  were  paid.  Meanwhile  the 
world  was  invited  to  ap])laud  the  statesmanship 
which  had  brought  about  this  marvel  of  the  Nation's 
progress.  Soon  after  the  first  installment  was 
handed  over,  various  speculations  sprang  into  exist- 
ence ;  one  form  of  which  was  State  Banking  Insti- 
tutions, besides  multitudes  of  banks  owned  by  ])ri- 


IMPORTS  AND  CURRENCY.  95 

vate  individuals,  and  under  such  regulations  as  to 
be  virtually  irresponsible.  (See  previous  chapter.) 
Bank  notes  now  flooded  the  land,  together  with 
"  shinplasters  " — thus  named  in  contempt — issued 
by  individuals  in  denominations  as  low  as  ten  cents. 
Speculation  raged  ;  the  compromise  tariff  stimulated 
immense  importation ;  manufactures  di'ooped.  We 
need  not  go  farther  into  detail.  In  due  time  the 
bubble  burst  (1837),  and  never  before  in  our  history 
had  there  been  so  terrible  a  financial  crash  thi'ough- 
out  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  Industry 
was  prostrate ;  laboring  men  and  mechanics  were 
thrown  out  of  employment ;  bankruptcies  were  al- 
most universal.  Within  two  years  there  were  more 
than  sixty  defaulters  to  the  National  government : 
Swartwout,  the  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York, 
leading  that  band  of  worthies  with  a  defalcation  of 
$1,500,000.  This  latter  phase  was  the  outgrowth 
of  the  Jacksonian  policy  of  appointing  men  to  office 
not  because  of  their  integrity  and  competency,  but 
on  purely  partisan  grounds,  and  also  the  result  of 
the  measures  of  the  nullifiers  of  South  Carolina. 

The  excitement  was  intense  throughout  the 
Union ;  the  people  traced  these  disasters  to  the 
mistakes  and  the  injudicious  interference  of  the 
National  government  with  the  finances,  and  in  con- 
sequence, the  breaking  up  of  the  industries  of  the 
land.  The  Democrats  nominated  Mai-tin  Van 
Buren  for  a  second  term,  but  at  the  presidential 
election  (1840),  the  people  chose  Gen.  William  H. 
Harrison,  his  Whig  opponent,  almost  by  acclamation. 


96  I'O/JTICAL    PART  IKS. 

Cirout  nuinbors  of  the  thoughtful  ami  ititt'lligciit 
Democrats  voted  -with  the  Whigs ;  while,  strange  to 
Ray,  the  Iiisliinen,  whom  we  have  seen  thrown  out  of 
eni|>I(>yineiit,  still  clung  to  the  i)arty  which  had 
cajoled  thcni  with  j)romising  words,  M'hile  ruining 
their  interests  as  laboring  men.  The  new  president 
died  within  a  month  after  he  assumed  office  ;  then 
began  a  series  of  tam])erings  on  the  part  of  certain 
leaders  with  John  Tyler,  the  acting  President.  But 
into  this  political  flirtation  we  do  not  intend  to  enter. 
AVe  have  noted  in  this  chapter  the  mischief  wrought 
by  Democratic  and  pro-slavery  statesmen,  when 
they  broke  down  the  protection  of  the  tariff  and 
tampered  with  the  currency — stopping  home  indus- 
try and  begetting  speculation. 


XV. 

FINANCIAL  REVIEW. 

National  Banking. — Until  1836  the  surplus  rev- 
enue of  the  government  had  been  deposited  in  the 
United  States  Bank,  which  had  always  returned 
such  funds  to  the  government,  as  its  charter  expired 
at  that  time,  and  President  Jackson  refused  to  sign 
the  bill  for  its  renewal  and  the  bank  had  to  close  up 
its  business.  After  that  the  governmental  deposits 
were  made  in  certain  favored  State  banks,  at  the 
time  called  in  derision  "  Pets."  The  public  money 
thus  appeared  in  circulation  in  the  form  of  notes  or 
bills,  issued  by  banks  scattered  over  the  country, 
to  redeem  which  bills  these  banks  had  very  little 
coin  of  their  own ;  yet,  notwithstanding  this  lack 
of  basis,  the  notes  themselves  were  received  by  the 
United  States  Treasury  in  payment  of  duties,  as 
well  as  of  sales  of  the  public  lands.  The  "  Pets  " 
soon  began  to  utilize  the  money  thus  placed  in  their 
keeping  for  their  own  benefit,  by  loaning  it  to  spec- 
ulatoi's ;  this  they  did  most  recklessly  on  the  sup- 
position that  the  money  would  not  be  needed  by 
the  government  for  a  long  time,  since  the  amount  ot 
the  importations  and  consequent  revenue  continued 
to  be  enormous.  In  consequence  of  these  loans,  spec- 
iilation  became  even  more  rampant,  especially  in  the 


98  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

j>un-li:iso  of  the  jmlilio  lands  ;  but  a  cliano;o  began 
whon,  lu'ar  tlic  close  of  his  second  term,  President 
Jackson  issued  the  famous  Specie  Circular.  This 
Circular  demanded  that  the  lands  sold  should  be 
paid  for  ill  gold  or  silver,  and  that  brought  the 
speculators  to  a  standstill ;  they  could  buy  no  more 
land  nor  ])ay  for  what  they  had  bought,  because 
the  notes  which  they  held  they  were  unable  to  con- 
vert into  coin,  as  the  banks  had  very  little  or  none 
in  their  vaults.  Meanwhile  the  importations  began 
to  fall  off — as  the  people  were  out  of  employment 
and  could  not  purchase — and  of  course,  also,  the 
revenue.  In  consequence,  the  government  was  soon 
in  want  of  money  to  defray  its  current  expenses, 
and  that  Avithin  a  year  after  it  had  announced  a 
surplus  of  about  840,000,000.  It  called  in  vain  for 
the  return  of  the  deposits,  for  the  "Pets"  being 
unable  to  return  them,  failed  and  became  bankrupt, 
and  their  credit,  always  more  or  less  s])urious,  now 
vanished  entirely. 

The  Sub-Treasury.—  This  failure  of  the  banks 
to  pay  back  their  deposits  led  to  the  adoption  of 
the  Independent  Treasury.  There  was  no  alterna- 
tive ;  by  substituting  that  mode  of  keeping  the 
public  money,  the  interest  that  might  acci-ue  from 
it  would  be  lost,  but  then  it  would  be  safely  kept. 
Fhe  Democrats  passed  the  law ;  and  aftei-wai-d  tlin 
Whigs  repealed  it,  as  they  believed  that  the  public 
money  under  suitable  regulations  could  be  safeJv 
ke])t  on  de))osit  in  banks,  and  at  the  same  time  uav 
interest ;  but  the  former  had  had  such  terrible  ex- 


FINANCIAL  REVIEW.  99 

perience  on  acQOunt  oi.jdefaulters,  that  when  Jiiey 
again  came  into  jwwcr,  they    re-enacted   the   law, 


and  it  still  remains  unrepealed,  l»eeaiise  the  country 
seeing  its  advaiit;ii;cs  continues  the  system.  It  is 
a  singular  fact,  that  this  is  the  other  measure  (see 
p.  36),  which,  originating  with  Democratic  •  states- 
men, introduced  and  passed  by  them,  has  become 
the  permanent  policy  of  the  country.  The  physi- 
cian deserves  more  credit  for  ])reventing  disease, 
than  in  curing  it ;  thus  we  have  seen  that  the  man- 
agement of  the  national  finances  induced  a  state  of 
things  by  which  the  deposits  in  irreponsible  banks 
were  lost ;  and  the  remedy  for  the  future  was  the  In. 
dej^endent  Treasury.  "Ever  since  emptying  its 
plethoric  purse  into  the  greedy  State  Treasuries, 
the  government  had  not  received  enough  to  pay  its 
annual  expenses.  Every  year  it  sank  a  little  deeper 
7nto  the  mire  of  debt."  Thus  "  in  a  time  of  pro- 
found peace,  the  government  could  not  pay  its  ex- 
penses year  after  year  save  by  borrowing."  This 
continued  until  the  era  of  Soiithern  Secession,  and 
in  July  1860,  the  public  debt  was  $87,700,000,  at 
the  end  of  a  period  of  many  years  of  peace.  "  Such 
was  the  miserable  ending  of  the  chapter  on  finances, 
while  they  were  managed  by  the  South,  imder  the 
quasi  administration  of  James  Buchanan."  {Bolles's 
Hist.  Finances  TJ.  /S.),  pp.  576,  605. 

American  Credit. — The  credit  of  the  govern- 
ment had  been  brought  so  low  under  Jackson  and 
Van  Buren's  combined  rule,  that  one  of  their  Sec- 
retaries of  the  Treasury  said  in  his  report :  "While 


100  POLITICAL    I'AHTIKS. 

Eiiroponii  nations,  with  not  Ji  tithe  of  our  resources 
ami  hurtlonotl  with  debts,  could  borrow  money  «at 
t/iree  ))€r  cent.,  the  agent  of  the  United  States  gov- 
ei'innent  could  not  obtain  a  loan  in  the  same  money- 
market,  when  capital  was  seeking  investment  at  <?ro 
aniN/ine  j)er  ce/it.,^^  and  he  was  compelled  to  return 
home  "  without  receiving  a  single  offer  for  any  por- 
tion of  a  loan  to  our  government  at  six  per  cent.'''' 
Such  was  the  condition  to  which  the  monetary  af- 
fairs of  the  country  were  brought  by  this  peculiar 
financiering.  "  The  Tariff  of  '42  was  expected  to  yield 
a  lai-ger  revenue  to  the  government;  but  for  two  years 
after  its  introduction  importations  were  light ;  but  to- 
ward the  close  of  Tyler's  administration"  [Whig  ex- 
cept in  relation  to  the  U.  S.  Bank]  "  the  country  had 
recovered  from  its  depression,  pi'ofits  were  greater, 
importations  had  increased "  [they  paid  higher 
duties],  "and  the  revenues  were  augmented  suffi- 
ciently to  pay  the  current  expenditures,  and  leave  a 
surplus,"  {Bolles,  pp.  586,  589).  Robert  J.  Walker, 
(1845),  "proposed  to  swell  the  national  income  still 
more  by  revising  the  tariff  (1842)  in  such  way  as  to  ob- 
tain the  largest  revenue  possible  from  importations." 
[This  resulted  in  the  tariff  of  1846].  Here  no  re- 
spect was  paid  to  the  interests  of  the  people  as  in- 
dividuals, either  as  those  who  worked  for  wages,  or 
those  who  employed  them,  but  only  the  most  money 
for  the  government.  Thus,  "  by  lowering  the  rates 
and  sinking  the  receipts  below  the  expenditures, 
and  doing  nothing  to  extricate  the  government 
from  that  situation  for  three    vears,  its  credit  was 


riXANCIAL  BEVIE]V  101 

seriously  shaken.  For  such  fiiiancjal  mismanage- 
ment no  possible  excuse  could  be.  mpde."  {Bolle%  p. 
602.)  ,    ,  ^ 

The  Various  Makeshifts. — It  may  be  said,  that 
it  is  not  fair  to  charge  the  Democratic  failures  of 
those  years  in  managing  financial  affairs,  upon  the 
Democratic  party  of  the  present  time.  But  there 
always  seems  to  have  been  brooding  over  that  polit- 
ical organization  a  lack  of  practical  wisdom  in  con- 
ducting financial  affairs.  Can  any  of  their  early 
blunders  compare  with  their  recent  resistance  to 
the  resumption  of  specie  payments  in  1879?  First 
they  opposed  the  bill  authorizing  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  resume  ;  then  for  four  years,  they 
persistently  did  their  utmost  to  pi-event  resumption ; 
and  in  the  House  when  they  obtained  the  majority, 
they  actually  repealed  the  bill,  but  the  Republicans 
having  the  control  in  the  Senate,  threw  it  out,  and 
resumption  took  place  two  months  before  the  Demo- 
crats obtained  a  majority  in  the  latter  house.  The 
commercial  and  industrial  world  owes  no  thanks  to 
them  for  that  measure  so  beneficial  in  its  effects, 
but  to  their  opponents,  who  carried  it  through  in 
spite  of  their  opposition.  Again  in  the  same  cate- 
gory are  their  coquetting  within  the  last  few  years 
with  the  Greenback  movement,  perhaps  the  most 
wild  and  visionary  financial  scheme  ever  presented 
to  the  American  people,  and  dallying  of  their  leaders 
with  the  free  traders  in  their  platforms,  when  per- 
haps a  majority  of  their  party  are  opposed  to  the 
principle  of  out  and  out  free  trade. 


XVI. 
CAUCUS   RULE. 

The  two  Parties. — The  Whigs  came  into  power 
in  1S41,  for  tlie  first  time  for  thirty-six  years,  not 
including  John  Quincy  Adams's  admhiistration,  the 
Democrats  had  had  control.  Up  to  the  second  year 
of  Washington's  administration  there  was  virtually 
one  party  only — that  of  the  whole  peojjle.  The 
struggles  of  the  Revolution  had  united  them  closely, 
and  the  differences  of  opinion  on  the  acceptance  of 
the  United  States  Constitution  seemed  to  have  left 
but  little  impression,  as  all  had  practically  acquiesced 
in  the  result  after  the  adoption  was  completed. 

The  contrast  between  these  two  political  organ- 
izations— Whigs  and  Democrats — was  in  two  re- 
spects :  one  in  their  management  and  the  other  in 
the  elements  composing  them.  The  one — the  Dem- 
ocratic— grew  up  as  we  have  seen  (p.  11) ;  first  in 
opposition  to  the  policy  of  Washington's  adminis- 
tration in  regard  to  Neutrality — that  party,  under 
the  same  name  has  remained  to  this  day ;  the  other, 
the  Federalist,  succeeded  by  the  Whig,  and  that,  as 
we  shall  see,  by  the  Republican  in  1856  (p.  180),  the 
latter  drawing  large  numbers  from  the  Democratic. 
The  internal  management  of  the  great  organizations 
has  been  quite  dissimilar.     From  the  first  the  lead- 


CAUCUS  RULE  103 

ers  held  the  one  in  hand  by  means  of  caucuses  and 
•conventions ;  the  other  was  never  thus  held,  but 
only  as  they,  individually,  agreed  with  their  party  in 
political  principles.  The  former  had  a  much  larger 
number,  who  were  not  famed  for  general  intelli- 
gence, and  who,  looking  up  to  their  leaders,  im- 
plicitly followed  them  ;  the  latter  had  more  who 
thought  for  themselves,  and  could  not  be  held  in 
leading  strings. 

That  prince  of  jiarty  strategists — Martin  Van 
Buren — in  his  history  of  "  Political  Parties  "  in  the 
United  States,  throws  light  on  the  subject  when  he 
says,  "  for  more  than  half  a  century,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  single  instance,  the  Democratic  party, 
whenever  it  has  been  toise  enough  to  employ  the 
caucus  or  convention  system,  has  been  successful " 
(p.  5).  This  means  that  the  leaders  of  that  party 
dictated  and  their  followers  implicitly  obeyed.  He 
then  remai-ks  that  the  "  sagacious  leaders  of  the 
Federal  party,  as  Avell  under  that  name  as  under 
others  [Whig]  by  which  it  has  at  different  times 
been  known,  have  always  been  desirous  to  bring 
every  usage  or  plan  designed  to  secure  party  unity 
into  disi'espect  with  the  people,  and  in  proportion 
to  their  success  in  that,  has  been  their  success  in 
elections  "  (p.  5).  This  is  said  ironicaUy  and  savors 
of  a  sneer  at  the  success  of  the  Whigs,  because  their 
leaders  failed  to  hold  the  members  of  their  party  in 
hand  to  do  their  bidding.  Again,  in  speaking  of 
the  period  from  1840  to  1860:  "The  wonder  has 
always  been  that  a  party,  which   had  at  its  com- 


104  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

mand  so  larije  a  portion  of  the  n])i)lianccs  generally 
most  ol'fectivo  ill  ]»artisan  warfare,  sliould  meet  with 
Riu'h  infie(juent  suecess  in  elections"  (p.  226).  Did 
it  not  occur  to  ]Mr.  Van  Buren  that  the  cases  were 
not  parallel?  It  would  have  been  futile  for  the 
"Whig  leaders,  even  if  they  desired,  to  attempt  dic- 
tation with  their  intelligent  followers,  as  the  latter 
did  their  own  thinking,  and  never  obeyed  manifes- 
toes of  caucuses,  unless  they  were  in  the  main  in 
accordance  with  their  own  individual  vieAvs.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  successful  management  of  a  polit- 
ical organization  by  the  caucuses  of  its  leaders  is 
necessary  where  a  large  number,  i)erliaps  a  majority, 
are  of  those  who  do  not  read  carefully  or  think 
deeply  for  themselves,  on  current  political  ques- 
tions. 

The  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party  were  "  saga- 
cious," and  ever  have  been,  in  the  use  of  caucuses 
or  conventions  to  promote  the  success  of  their  plans. 
This  system  was  well  adapted,  and,  indeed,  the  only 
one  that  could  hold  in  hand  certain  elements  of 
the  organization,  and  make  them  effective  in  elec- 
tions, as  in  doing  so  it  was  essential  to  use  strong 
restraints  as  well  as  strong  incentives. 

The  Material  of  Parties. — Mr.  Van  Buren  also 
inquires  why  the  system  of  caucuses  or  conventions 
of  leaders  "  was  in  fact  so  much  less  necessary  to 
one  party  [Whig]  than  to  the  other  "  [Democratic] 
(j).  6).  The  answer  is  found  in  the  greater  intelli- 
gence of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  former. 

Parties— How  Managed.— A  political  organi/.a- 


CAUCUS  liULE.  105 

tion  so  constituted  as  to  be  susceptible  of  manipu- 
lation by  caucuses  of  its  leaders,  would  likely  be 
made  up  of  three  classes :  the  first,  the  leaders  who 
devise  the  plan  of  action  ;  the  second,  the  fairly 
intelligent,  but  who,  absorbed  in  their  j^ersonal 
affairs,  pay  little  attention  to  political  questions, 
unless  in  some  important  crisis ;  the  third,  the 
illiterate  and  unintelligent.  The  first  and  third 
classes  scarcely  ever  change  their  political  relations  ; 
the  one  because  of  personal  interest,  for  being  in 
the  habit  of  influencing  their  fellows  they  are  loth 
to  lay  aside  the  power ;  the  other,  from  distrust  of 
their  own  knowledge,  obey  the  dictation  of  their 
leaders :  while  the  second  in  great  crises,  when 
their  attention  has  been  drawn  to  questions  of 
National  importance,  such  as  the  finances  or  in- 
dustrial interests,  frequently  vote  independently'", 
as  it  is  termed,  as  upon  them,  the  influence  of  mere 
party  relations  is  not  strong.  A  political  organiza- 
tion composed  of  those  who  read  and  think  for 
themselves,  cannot  be  manipulated  by  caucuses  of 
self-constituted  leaders;  for  illustration,  the  Old 
Federalist  or  Whig  never  could  be  thus  managed, 
and  the  Republicans  of  these  later  days  in  the  three 
States  where  it  specially  prevailed,  have  recently 
repudiated  what  is  vulgarly  called  "Bossism." 

Planters  and  Farmers. — The  classes  in  the 
Democracy  of  Jefferson's  time,  and  onward  for 
more  than  a  third  of  a  century,  that  obeyed  the 
leaders  implicitly,  were  the  planters  and  farmers. 
Jefferson,  perhaps  unconsciously,   attributed  much 


lUC  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

iiu'rit  totlicso,  because  tliey  nianifestcd  faitli  in  liis 
wisdom,  and  they  justified  that  opinion  by  follow- 
ing him  with  untiring  zeal  in  all  his  theories,  whether 
they  understood  them  or  not.  In  accordance  wath 
his  conceptions  concerning  the  "  goodness  of  human 
nature,"  he  seemed  to  imagine  that  the  simple- 
minded  farmer  or  jdanter,  being  "  nearer  to  nature," 
liad  a  sort  of  2^oUtical  inspiration,  which  he  char- 
acterized as  the  instinct  of  humanity.  The  farmer 
oi'  ])lanter  class  of  that  day  was  far  inferior  in  gen- 
eral intelligence  to  that  engaged  at  the  same  time 
in  commerce  and  other  mercantile  pursuits,  the 
mechanical  industries,  manufacturers  or  bankers. 
Yet  if  compared  in  the  same  resjject  M^ith  the 
farmer  of  the  last  thirty-five  or  forty  years  the 
former  will  be  found  to  be  much  inferior,  because 
the  newspapers  of  that  day,  circulating  among  the 
country  people,  w^ere  very  limited  both  in  number 
and  quality,  comj)ared  with  what  they  are  among 
the  farmers  of  to-day.  In  addition  the  ordinary 
newspaper  of  the  present  time  is  aided  immensely 
in  instructing  the  people  by  other  appliances  of 
literature  and  science  in  the  form  of  periodicals  of 
various  kinds. 

This  change  began  with  the  discussions  from 
1826-1832,  and  onward,  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
that  roused  throughout  the  land  an  interest  in  ])oli- 
tical  affairs,  which  led  to  more  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge among  the  people  living  in  the  rural  districts  ; 
although  the  absence  of  common  schools  in  the 
Slave-Labor  States  had  rendered  the  country  white 


CAUCUS  RULE.  107 

population  there  sadly  deficient  in  the  elements  of 
an  education.  But  the  rural  class  of  the  earlier  day, 
followed  unflinchingly  the  political  leaders,  who 
enlightened  them  by  means  of  stumj)  speeches.  On 
the  contrary  the  Northern  farmers  of  to-day  are 
among  our  well-informed  citizens  on  current  politi- 
cal questions,  because  of  their  greater  facilities  in 
.acquiring  knowledge.  The  class  among  them  that 
once  unhesitatingly  followed  old  time  leaders,  have 
passed  away  or  changed  their  views  ;  their  places  as 
docile  voters  have  been  taken  by  another  class,  not 
preeminently  intelligent,  but  who  are  of  foreign  ex- 
traction, and  who  are  equally  true  in  their  party 
allegiance — chiefly  found  in  the  large  cities  and 
towns,  and  along  the  railways  of  the  country. 
From  two  to  three-fifths  of  the  steady  voting 
strength  of  the  Democracy  to-day  in  the  old  Free- 
Labor  States  is  found  in  this  class  of  the  population. 
Sons  and  Fathers, —  Mr.  Van  Buren,  when 
speaking  of  the  continuance  of  party  preferences  on 
political  questions  handed  down  from  one  genera- 
tion to  another,  says :  "  Sons  have  generally  fol- 
lowed in  the  footsteps  of  their  fathers,  and  families 
originally  differing  in  political  principles,  have  in 
regular  succession  maintained  and  transmitted  this 
opposition,"  (p.  7).  Facts  seem  to  be  wanting  to 
establish  this  theory  very  perfectly ;  it  may  have 
been  more  correct  in  the  earlier  days,  when  politi- 
cal information  was  not  as  widely  diffused  as  since 
by  means  of  numerous  newspapers,  in  which  na- 
tional questions  arc  ably  and  fully  discussed,  and  the 


108  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

renders  h:ive  more  oi)i)orluinty  to  read  and  rcfleet 
on  llie  opposing  arguments.  In  later  times,  it  was 
strikiniily  true  tliat  many  thinJcing  sons  of  Dcmo- 
oratie  fathers  took  ste])s  in  accordanee  Avitli  the  ad- 
vance of  the  limes,  and  left  the  ])aternal  fold.  The 
first  break  was  in  11S40,  when  the  Whigs  came  into 
control  of  the  government  by  the  aid  of  advanced 
Democrats,  I)ut  the  great  and  permanent  break  was 
made,  when  "  the  young  Democracy  "  refused  to  fol- 
low their  fathers  any  farther  in  their  subserviency  to 
the  slave-power.  Van  Buren  himself,  even,  head- 
ing the  revolt  as  the  presidential  candidate  of  the 
Free-Soil  ])arty  in  1848,  in  its  endeavor  to  prevent 
the  extension  of  the  system  of  human  bondage  into 
free  territory.  Tl'.e  majority  of  these  never  re- 
turned to  the  political  dogmas  of  their  fathers,  but 
repudiated  them  by  voting  for  John  C.  Fremont  in 
1856,  and  four  years  afterward  for  Abraham  Lincoln 
When  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  took  place,  there 
occurred  a  still  greater  desertion  of  the  sons  from 
the  old  faith  of  the  fathers,  and  these  yonng  native 
Democrats  either  entered  the  ranks  of  the  Union 
army  or  aided  the  cause  by  other  means.  They, 
also,  never  returned ;  afterward  they  learned  some 
lessons  in  political  economy,  and  did  not  sympathize 
with  destroying  the  finances  of  the  country,  nor  re- 
fuse to  aid  its  industries,  while  they  thought  it 
just  and  ])ropcr  to  give  the  freedman  a  chance  to  help 
himself  in  his  new  relation  as  a  citizen  of  ■ihe  republic 
in  good  and  regular  standing. 
The  Foreigners.— If  the  ))aj-ty    of   lo-day    con- 


CAUCUS  KULE.  109 

sisted  only  of  those  lineally  descended  from  the  old 
line  Democracy,  there  would  be  few  to  do  it  rever- 
ence. Take  away  the  foreign  element  and  how 
many  would  l)e  left  ?  Before  the  Rebellion  the  Hi- 
bernians in  the  Free-Labor  States,  especially  in  the 
cities  and  large  towns  and  along  the  railroads,  were 
almost  supreme  in  the  Democratic  party,  but  these 
Irishmen  acted  nobly  in  the  Union  cause ;  those 
who  went  into  the  armies  fought  valiantly  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Nation's  life.  But  when  the  war 
was  over  the  impulsive  fighting  Irishmen  nearly  all 
went  back  to  their  first  love — Democracy.  It  is 
amazing  they  did  not  see  that  the  very  leaders, 
whose  princi])les  they  had  fought  against  for  four 
years,  were  the  same  who  now  told  them  that  the 
Republicans  were  their  enemies  in  disguise,  and 
freed  the  slaves  only  to  bring  them  North,  by  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  to  take  the  places  of  Irishmen  in 
their  fields  of  labor.  This  absurd  fabrication  had 
perhaps  as  much  effect  as  any  other  in  seducing  the 
Irishman  back  to  his  old  allegiance,  and  to-day  the 
main  strength  of  the  Democracy  lies  in  the  foreign 
adherents,  who  obey  the  mandates  of  their  leaders, 
apparently  without  thinking  for  themselves  at  all. 
They  wish  well  for  the  country  and  for  themselves, 
but  for  lack  of  knowledge  they  are  unable  fully  to 
comprehend  all  the  bearings  of  the  questions  of 
finance,  and  the  aids  that  industry  needs  in  our 
comparatively  new  country,  and  for  that  reason 
they  persistently  vote  against  their  own  interests 
as  mechanics  and  laborers.     Should  a   war   occtir, 


110  POI.ITICAI.   PAIi'J'l/iS. 

these  very  men  would  show  tbeir  love  for  their 
ftilopted  couutry  by  volunteering  in  multitudes. 
Now,  however,  as  in  the  earlier  years,  a  large  num- 
ber of  tlie  Democratic  party  is  made  up  of  those 
who  do  not  think,  but  who  blindly  follow  their 
leaders  under  the  party  whip  of  caucus-rule. 

Servility  to  "Bosses." — In  our  political  annals 
there  is  no  unwritten  law  so  arbitrary  and  tyraimical 
as  that  of  the  caucus-rule  of  to-day  in  vogue  among 
the  leaders  of  the  Democracy.  Van  Buren  intimates 
that  the  system  was  i^eculiarly  effective  in  controlling 
unintelligent  voters.  In  order  to  deter  a  member 
of  the  party  from  changing  his  political  relations, 
there  is  held  over  him  the  threat  of  his  losing  caste 
among  his  fellows  ;  this  form  of  punishment  has 
great  influence  upon  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party 
in  the  cities  as  well  as  in  the  rural  districts.  The 
servility  of  ignorant  voters  toward  their  political 
"Bosses  "is  not  less  degrading  than  the  subservi- 
ency of  intelligent  and  reputable  citizens,  who  obey 
the  mandates  of  the  same  dictators  when  the  lat- 
ter put  in  nomination  candidates  for  office  that  are 
unworthy  of  support  in  any  form  whatever.  Yet 
strange  to  say,  these  woi'thy  citizens,  perhaps  un- 
consciously trammelled  by  their  associations,  often 
vote  for  such  nominees  for  the  sake  of  sustaining 
the  prestige  of  the  party. 


XVIT. 
WHIG    REFORMS. 

The  Whig  Party. — The  first  business  that  occu- 
pied the  attention  of  the  Whig  Congress  on  its 
assembling  in  1841,  was  to  remedy  the  evils  brought 
upon  the  country  by  the  legislation  of  the  previous 
ten  years.  The  members  of  the  Whig  party  were 
the  earnest  advocates  of  some  system  by  which  to 
develop  the  industries  as  well  as  the  resources  of 
the  whole  country.  Though  fewer  in  numbers  than 
their  political  opj^onents,  they  had  been,  and  were 
in  those  days,  and  ever  after  under  another  name 
have  been,  the  party  of  progress  ;  they  were  com- 
])osed  of  the  men  who  would  think  and  act  for 
themselves,  and  for  that  reason  would  not  be  tram- 
meled by  mere  leaders  as  such  ;  they  had  too  much 
self-respect  to  obey  implicitly  conventions  unless 
the  latter's  enunciated  principles  coincided  with 
their  own.  Hence,  only  after  gross  mismanagement 
of  the  Nation's  affairs  by  the  opposite  party,  could 
they  come  into  the  control  of  the  government,  and 
only  then,  by  the  aid  of  Democratic  voters  who 
were  also  dissatisfied  with  the  policy  of  their  own 
party. 

Industrial  Advancement. — Under  the  influence 
of  the  tariff  ensuiied  in  1842,  the  industries  of  the 


112  POLITICAL  rAirrihs. 

country,  so  prostiMtt'  :iftor  a  depression  of  eight  or 
ten  years,  as  it'  umler  some  magical  influence,  s])rang 
into  activity.  This  ])rogress  continued  for  only 
four  years.  Meanwhile  the  policy  of  the  Democratic 
organization  came  more  than  ever  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  slave-holding  leaders  in  those  States  that 
raised  cotton,  and,  also,  in  those  that  supplied  the 
latter  with  fresh  slaves.  Then  by  degrees  the  por- 
tion of  the  party  in  the  Free-Labor  States,  coming 
still  more  under  the  same  influence,  fell  into  line  of 
not  promoting  the  manufacturing  industries  of  their 
own  States,  by  aiding  to  pass  the  tariff  of  1846. 
This  indirect  method  of  retarding  the  progress  of 
these  industries  was  to  be  carried  on  under  the 
disguise  of  a  "  tariff  for  revenue  and  incidental  pro- 
tection." The  Xulliflers,  as  we  have  seen,  took  the 
ground  that  protected  industry  was  unconstitutional, 
hence  as  a  tariff,  however  low,  must  to  that  extent 
be  a  i)rotection  to  the  American  manufacturer  of 
the  same  kind  of  article,  it  would  follow  that  Free 
Trade,  alone,  was  constitutional.  Had  the  question 
on  which  the  two  parties  entered  ;ii)on  the  Pres- 
idential contest  in  1844  been  on  sustaining  the 
policy  which  promoted  the  industries  of  the  whole 
land,  the  Whigs  would  no  doubt  have  elected  their 
candidate,  as  the  manufacturing  interests  had  pro- 
gressed in  two  years  at  such  a  rate  as  to  attract 
attention ;  the  people  of  the  Free-Labor  States 
were  rapidly  acquiring  skill,  and  placing  their  indus- 
tries on  a  firm  basis,  which,  had  it  not  been  inter- 
fered  with,  would  have  become  permanent.     The 


WHIG  HE  FORM.  113 

evidence  of  tliis  industrial  })rogress  uas  seen  every- 
whei-e,  while  the  laboring  man  found  employment 
at  fair  wages  with  the  ])rospect  of  its  indefinite 
continuance;  indeed  the  people  began  to  look  for- 
ward to  a  success  in  the  prosjjerity  of  the  Nation 
never  before  realized.  These  sanguine  ho2:)es  were 
doomed  to  disappointment,  as  we  shall  see  later  on. 

Cheap  Postage. — The  good  influence  of  this 
Whio;  Congress  was  not  limited  alone  to  reviving  the 
industries  of  the  Union  in  1842;  in  it  after  much 
o])position  was  introduced  a  measure  vastly  bene- 
ficial to  the  people  and  to  the  Nation  at  large — 
Cheap  Postage.  There  is  no  item  individually 
small,  so  great  a  boon  as  this  to  the  "  poor  man ; " 
and  indeed  all  classes  in  the  community,  are  thus 
benefited  in  their  social  relations,  as  well  as  in  the 
entire  business  transactions  within  the  Nation. 
The  cultivation  of  the  affections  of  friends  and  of 
families  is  of  great  advantage,  even  when  they  are 
far  separated ;  this  can  be  done  only  by  means  of 
letters  interchanged,  and  it  is  now  accomplished 
without  largely  taxing  the  parties  corresponding, 
as  in  the  days  of  dear  ])ostage.  Says  an  English 
writer  speaking  of  the  introduction  of  their  system 
of  chea])  letter  carrying:  "Our  post-oftice  system 
is  our  greatest  measure  for  ^f/ti/  years ;  not  only 
political  but  educational,  for  the  English  mind  and 
affections." 

Cheap  postage  in  the  latter  resi>ect  is  much  more 
beneficial  to  the  American  ])eo])le  than  to  the 
English,  as  the  former  are  scattered  over  so  much 


114  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

moro  territory,  niiil  tVom  the  fact  tliat  tlic  incnibors 
of  Aiiu'ru  ail  faniiru's  are  so  liable  to  be  far  se])ara- 
ted,  when  scttlril  ill  life.  They  often  migrate  from 
one  jiortioii  of  the  country  to  another;  the  farmers' 
sons  and  others  from  the  east  to  the  ])lains  of  the 
far  west  or  the  mines  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  To 
these  ])ersons  and  their  friends  at  home  cheap 
j)Ostage  and  ra])id  mail  facilities  are  blessings  that 
cannot  be  estimated  at  a  mere  money  value.  Cher- 
ishing the  affections  of  those  friends  and  relatives 
sejiarated  from  each  other  far  over  the  land,  is  an 
advantage  of  great  value  to  the  unity  of  the  Nation 
at  large. 

The  Opponents. — In  the  days  of  dear  ])ostage 
the  cost  of  sending  letters  was  a  great  tax  u])on 
tlie  })eople,  yet  the  leaders  of  the  Democracy  i-e- 
sisted  cheap  postage  for  yeai-s,  oj^posing  it  as  long 
as  the  bill  was  before  Congress,  and  not  until  I860 
when  that  i)arty  had  but  a  small  minority  in  the 
House  or  Senate,  did  the  people  get  almost  the 
present  rates.  The  South  took  the  lead  in  op2)osing 
cheap  i)Ostage ;  the  States  of  that  section,  with  one 
exception,  never  paid  their  own  i)ostage.  The  ex- 
ception was  Louisiana,  and  it  gave  a  small  surplus, 
while  the  sur])lus  of  Massachusetts  was  about  the 
same  as  the  deficiency  of  Virginia.  The  truth  is, 
in  proi)ortion  to  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Southern  States,  a  very  limited  number  patron- 
ized  the  post-ofHce,  and  this  portion  had  l)ut  little 
respect  for  the  wants  of  others  who  worked  for 
their  living,  whether  Southern   "white  trash"  o'- 


WHIG  liEFOTiM.  115 

Northern  "mudsills."  They  argued  that  chcaj) 
postage  would  deprive  t/ieni  of  the  greater  portion 
of  their  mail,  as  the  government  could  not  afford 
the  expense,  while  the  advocates  of  the  measure 
contended  that  the  greater  intelligence  of  the  peo- 
])le  of  the  Free-Labor  States  would  sup])ly  the 
deficiency  in  the  increase  of  the  number  of  letters 
and  papers  sent  through  the  mails,  in  consequence 
of  the  reduction  of  the  rate  of  postage.  This  result 
has  been  attained  in  the  increase  of  revenue  from 
the  post-office,  now  nearly  self-supporting.  The 
efforts  in  Congress  to  obtain  cheap  j)ostage  were 
commenced  in  1836  by  Edward  Everett  representing 
a  Whig  constituency  of  Massachusetts,  but  prac- 
tically put  under  way  in  1842  by  George  Ashmun 
of  Massachusetts  in  the  Congress  chosen  two  years 
before,  when  Gen.  Harrison  was  elected  president. 
In  1845  the  first  reduction  was  made;  but  it  took 
Uoentij-one  years  (to  1863)  by  successive  steps  to 
reduce  the  rate  of  postage  to  what  it  was  1st  Sep- 
tember, 1883;  the  Democratic  members  for  the 
most  part  ojjjiosing  the  reduction  more  or  less  when- 
ever the  matter  was  brought  before  Congress,  though 
a  few  individuals — more  j)rogressive  than  their  fel- 
lows— voted  for  this  boon  to  the  people,  while  the 
])olitical  organization  as  such  was  opposed  to  it. 

High  Rates. — At  the  time  the  agitation  on  the 
subject  began,  the  letter  which  now  costs  a  hco  cent 
stamj),  cost  from  three  to  ten  times  as  much,  and 
even  more.  The  letter  was  reckoned  partly  by  the 
distance  it  was  to  travel  and  j)artly  by  sheets,'  not 


116  rolATlCAL   1' ARTIES. 

l>y  weight  :is  uiulcr  tlie  j)resent  system  ;  hence  don 
bio  letters — no  matter  how  thin  or  light — were 
charged  double  ])ostage  ;  triple  sheets,  triple,  and 
so  on  in  the  same  jjroportion.  The  postage  on 
newsjiajjcrs  did  not  differ  much  from  that  of  the 
present  time;  the  great  burden  was  on  the  letters, 
they  being  so  much  more  imi)ortant  to  the  mass  of 
the  people.  As  soon  as  weight  was  adopted  as  the 
basis  of  charge,  another  improvement  came  in,  that 
of  enveloj)es,  which,  in  addition  to  their  convenience, 
have  been  a  j)rotection  against  the  necessary  annoy- 
ance of  postmasters  })rying  into  letters  to  ascertain 
the  number  of  sheets  of  which  they  were  composed. 
This  free  intercourse  by  means  of  letters  and 
newspapers  is  an  advantage  of  almost  infinite  value 
to  a  nation  composed  as  ours ;  its  people  homo- 
geneous, and  every  community  having  represent- 
atives from  other  communities  far  distant,  but 
often  united  by  ties  of  relationship,  as  we  find  in 
the  wide  separation  of  families.  The  advantages 
accruing  from  cheap  postage  to  the  business  rela- 
tions between  the  different  portions  of  the  Union, 
are  as  obviously  beneficial  as  they  are  gi-eat.  It  is 
due  to  truth  and  justice  as  well  as  to  history,  that 
the  American  people  should  recognize  to  whose 
foresight  and  statesmanship  they  are  indebted  for 
this  boon,  and  what  influence  has  consistently  op* 
posed  it  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  times. 


XVIII. 
DEMOCRATS  AGAIN  IN  POWER. 

The  Turn  of  the  Wheel. — Into  the  presidential 
canvass  of  1844  the  Sonth  came  with  the  demand 
that  Texas  should  be  annexed  to  the  Union  ;  thus 
the  question  of  slavery  was  introduced ;  by  this 
means  James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee,  was  elected. 
The  annexation  of  Texas  was  designed  to  extend 
the  area  of  slavery ;  on  that  question  the  Slave- 
Labor  States  were  virtually  "  solid,"  and  holding 
the  balance  of  power  between  the  two  political 
parties,  the  Democrats  succeeded  in  this  national 
election  ;  as  the  Northern  wing  of  the  party  suc- 
cumbed as  usual  to  the  dictation  of  the  Southern, 
the  "Whigs  of  those  States  were  not  so  much  op- 
])osed  to  the  acquisition  of  Texas,  but  they  were 
unwilling  to  have  it  at  the  expense  and  moral  wrong 
of  a  war  with  Mexico,  when  it  was  evident  that 
the  same  end  could  be  attained  in  a  few  years  by 
peaceful  measures.  {American  People^  pp.  742- 
749.)  Then,  for  the  next  fifteen  years,  slavery  held 
sway  in  the  National  government,  and  the  progress 
and  the  industry  of  the  country  was  held  subordinate 
to  it. 

The  Trick. — It  had  been  foreshadowed  that  the 
South  was  hostile  to  the  tariff  of  1842;  but   it  was 


118  rOLITICAL  PARTIES. 

noccssaiy  for  the  Dcinocracy,  in  order  to  succeetl  in 
the  election  of  1844,  to  secure  one  of  tlic  influential 
Free-Labor  States,  wliose  interests  were  thus  in- 
volved ;  Pennsylvania  was  chosen  as  the  battle 
•ground.  That  State  had  always,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  voted  against  its  own  interests,  but  since  her 
industrial  ])rogress  had  been  so  great,  esi)ecially  in 
developing  her  immense  resources  in  iron  and  coal, 
under  the  tariff  of  '42,  it  was  feared  that  without 
strenuous  exertions,  she  would  now  sui)])ort  the 
"Whig  ticket.  Iler  farmers  must  be  induced  to  vote 
as  they  always  had  done.  Therefore  on  the  banners 
used  in  that  State  during  the  canvass,  the  Demo- 
cratic leaders  had  inscribed  the  legend, — "  Polkfunl 
Dallas  and  the  Tariff  of  '42."  Dallas  was  a  Penn- 
sylvanian  and  the  candidate  for  vice-president.  He 
was  a  protectionist,  and  as  such  was  recognized 
throughout  the  State  ;  for  this  reason  large  numbers 
having  faith  in  him  on  that  special  question,  voted 
the  ticket.  We  shall  see  how  these  innocents  Avere 
deceived, — the  State  went  for  the  party  by  a  small 
majority. 

Tariff  of  1846. — It  was  soon  seen  what  the  re- 
vived industries  of  the  country  had  to  expect  from 
the  return  of  that  party  to  the  control  of  the 
national  government.  The  "  tariff  of  '42,"  was 
modified  and  almost  neutralized  by  the  one — '•'•for 
revenue  only'''' — enacted  in  1846.  The  latter  was 
passed  under  the  dictation  of  the  slave-owners  ;  the 
changes  being  made  in  accordance  with  the  recom- 
mendations embodied  in  the  report  of  Robert  J. 


DEMOCRATS  AGAIN  IN  POWER.         119 

Walker,  of  Mississippi,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
under  President  Polk.  This  report,  the  London 
Times  characterized  as  the  only  "properly  free- 
trade  report  ever  made  by  an  American  Minister  of 
Finance."  This  bill  was  passed  by  the  aid  of  North- 
ern Democratic  votes  ;  a  tie  occurring  in  the  Senate, 
Vice-President  Dallas  gave  the  casting-vote.,  by 
which  it  became  a  law.  {Appleton^s  Enc..,  first 
edition.  Article.,  George  M.  Dallas.)  This  was  a 
most  wanton  and  uncalled  for  interference  with  the 
industrial  intei'estsof  the  country,  which  were  rapidly 
becoming  more  and  more  prosperous.  All  were 
taken  by  surprise ;  not  a  petition  for  a  change  had 
been  presented  by  the  i)eople  to  Congress ;  on  the 
contrary  all  the  Free-Labor  States  were  in  favor  of 
letting  well  alone — but  slavery  commanded  and  the 
Northern  Democracy  obeyed. 

Double  Invoices. — A  principle  that  wrought 
immense  harm  was  introduced  into  this  new  tariff, 
as  it  changed  the  mode  of  levying  duties  in  nearly 
all  cases,  from  a  specific  basis  to  that  of  ad  valorem. 
The  former  system  prevented,  to  a  great  extent* 
cheating  the  government,  as  the  article  imported 
had  a  definite  value  given  it,  on  which  the  duty  was 
levied.  The  latter,  as  the  name  implies,  was  a  duty 
levied  according  to  the  value  assigned  the  article  in 
the  invoices,  thus  opening  a  wide  field  for  defraud- 
ing the  government.  This  was  accomplished  by  the 
importer  using  doable  invoices ;  one  on  which  to 
pass  the  goods  through  the  Custom  House,  the 
other  to  pay  and  sell  by.     The  first  was  sent  with 


120  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

the  merchaiulise,  the  second  afterward,  giving  time, 
generally,  for  tlie  goods  to  be  assessed  for  the 
duties  l»ef<ire  its  arrival.  The  result  "was,  that  those 
ini])orteis  who  paid  their  duties  on  lionest  invoices 
Mere  luidersold  in  the  market  hy  their  rivals,  wlio, 
in  tins  manner,  defrauded  the  government  of  its 
just  revenue.  Many  American  firms,  imj)orting 
merchandise,  were  driven  out  of  the  trade,  and 
much  of  this  business  })assed  into  the  hands  of 
foreigners.  The  alternative  was,  for  the  American 
finns  eitlier  to  withdmw  from  the  business,  or  en- 
ter, also,  upon  the  same  scheme  of  cheating  their 
own  government.  The  ad  valorem  system  affords 
S])ecial  facilities  to  the  foreign  importer  who  may 
wish  to  defraud,  because,  having  branch  houses  in 
our  seaports,  they  can  easily  use  douhle  invoices^ 
and  witli  less  liability  to  detection  than  they  could 
as  correspondents  of  indej^endent  American  firms. 
In  connection  with  the  ad  valorem  mode  of  levying 
duties,  great  facilities  are,  likewise,  afforded  for  de- 
frauding the  government  by  under  valuations  oi  the 
merchandise  on  which  duty  is  to  be  levied.  This  is 
possible  by  means  of  collusion  between  the  Custom 
House  officer  and  the  importer,  {Daniel  Webster^s 
Speech  on  the  Tariff  in  the  Senate^  June  25,  18-46.) 

Says  Sir  Francis  Hincks :  "  Frauds  are  invariably 
pei-j)etrated  when  there  are  very  high  ad  valorem 
rates  as  duty."    {N.  A.  Review,  April,  1880,  p.  348.) 

Government  deemed  an  Enemy. — It  ought  to 
be  borne  in  mind,  that,  especially  on  the  Continent 
of  Europe,  the  people  are  accustomed  to  look  upon 


DEMOCRATS  AGAIN  IN  POWER.  121 

their  government  more  as  an  enemy  than  as  a 
friend  ;  from  tliis  sentiment  it  is  easy  for  many  to 
j)ass  to  the  belief  that  to  defrand  it  is  neither  a 
crime  nor  even  dishonorable.  The  English  mer- 
chant has  a  much  greater  respect  for  his  govern- 
ment than  his  fellows  on  the  Continent  have  for 
theirs,  and  it  is  exceptional  for  him  to  enter  into 
schemes  to  defraud  it  of  the  imposed  duties.  The 
same  sjiirit,  it  is  lioped,  will  yet  pi-evail  to  an 
increased  extent  in  Republican  P"'rance.  But  what 
can  we  say  of  the  American  merchant,  if  there  is 
one,  who  can  be  seduced  into  cheating  his  own 
government,  which  is  known  to  liini  only  by  its 
blessings?  This  measure  of  almost  universal  ad 
valorem  duties,  with  its  demoralizing  influences,  re- 
mained in  force  about  fifteen  years  to  1861,  but 
now,  as  far  as  it  is  possible  under  the  circumstances, 
the  regulation  requires  specific  duties.  There  are, 
it  is  said,  some  kinds  of  merchandise  imported 
upon  which  ad  valorem  duties  can  be  levied  to 
advantage  ;  these  make  a  small  exception. 

Ignoring  Facts.  —  Democratic  leaders,  when 
praising  the  "for  revenue  only  "  tariff  of  1846,  uni- 
formly ignore  causes  that  greatly  promoted  the  busi- 
ness of  the  country  in  spite  of  the  counter- influence 
of  that  tariff  itself.  First,  the  Mexican  War  (1846- 
48) ;  Second,  the  finding  of  gold  in  California  (1848) ; 
and,  Third,  the  failure  of  crops  abroad  (1847-49), 
and  the  Crimean  War  (1854-55).  This  tariff'  finally 
brought  about  the  crash  of  1857. 


XTX. 
THE   MEXICAN   WAR. 

Neighborliness. — As  a  nation  avc  have  been 
peculiarly  kind  in  our  intercourse  with  the  people 
living  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia — the  Chinese, 
the  Japanese,  and  the  Coreans.  The  same,  liow- 
ever,  cannot  be  said  of  our  treatment  of  our  south- 
ern neighbors.  For  the  slave-owners  and  the 
Northern  leaders  of  the  Democracy,  when,  having 
control  of  the  national  government,  and  op])ortu- 
nily  served,  have  treated  the  latter  more  or  less  \in- 
justly.  Witness  the  spirit  of  the  Ostend  Manifesto, 
and  the  several  raids  of  filibusters  (p.  138).  But 
these  outrages  are  insignificant  when  compared 
with  the  treatment  Mexico  received  at  the  hands  of 
the  same  political  leaders — South  and  North. 

K  one  wishes  to  investigate  the  intrigues  and  bad 
faith  of  certain  i^oliticians  of  that  day  in  order  to 
bring  about  the  annexation  of  Texas,  in  spite  of  the 
reasonable  protests  of  the  Mexican  government, 
then  at  war  with  that  State,  and  also  of  multitudes 
of  the  best  men  of  our  Nation  in  both  }wlitical 
f)arties,  let  him  read  chapter  cxxxv.  of  that  sturdy 
old  Democrat  Benton's  great  work,  "  Thirty  Years' 
View,"  where  the  subject  is  fully  and  graphically 
discussed. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAR.  123 

Injustice  of  the  War. — The  war  was  forced 
upon  Mexico  by  the  influence  of  the  slave-power 
which  was  sustained  for  the  most  part  by  the 
northern  Democratic  leaders,  while  the  Whig  or- 
ganization, as  such,  was  opj^osed  to  the  war,  in  the 
first  place  because  they  deemed  it  both  unnecessary 
and  unjust,  when  there  was  evidence  that  the  same 
ends  could  be  attained  in  a  short  time  by  negotiation. 
In  this  union  of  sentiment  were  also  numbers  of 
Democrats,  who  were  opposed  to  a  war  upon  our 
neighbor,  so  inferior  in  strength  and  still  more 
feeble  in  the  general  intelligence  of  its  people.  Yet 
the  insatiate  spirit  of  slavery  would  brook  no  op- 
position iu  the  party  organization  to  these  high- 
handed measures  of  the  leaders,  who  had  control  of 
both  Houses  of  Congress  and  the  President.  The 
enlightened  conscience  of  the  Free-Labor  States 
rebelled  at  this  injustice  toAvard  a  weak  neighbor, 
and  though  the  war  occasioned  the  gain  of  a  vast 
domain,  yet  the  conscience  of  the  thoughtful  was  ill 
at  ease. 

Says  Senator  Benton,  "  Texas  and  Mexico  were 
at  Avar;  to  annex  the  former  was  to  adopt  the  war; 
Avhile  annexation  Avas  desirable  in  itself,  when  it 
could  be  honestly  done."  Such,  also,  were  the  well 
known  opinions  of  otlier  American  statesmen ;  Mr. 
Van  Buren  was  in  favor  of  the  same,  "  when  it  could 
be  done  peaceably  and  honestly."  Henry  Clay  and 
the  Whigs  of  the  South  held  similar  views,  as  weU. 
as  many  of  the  same  party  in  the  North.  But  for 
reasons  Avhich  Benton  explains,  the  plan  of  these 


124  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

loaders  wns  to  have  "  immodiato  annexation*'  in 
ppite  of  the  repeated  protests  of  the  Mexican  cjov- 
omment,  wliich  dejjrccated  war,  and  also  "notified 
tlie  Ignited  States  Government  tliree  separate  times 
'aat  she  should  consider  the  annexation  of  Texas  a 
VRt  cause  of  war."  But  the  champions  for  ainiex- 
ttion  confidently  ]n-oclaimed  that  Mexico  merely 
Vlustercd  and  would  not  fight.  "  In  no  jjcriod  of 
our  history  was  the  ascendancy  of  the  Slave-Power 
more  complete ;  nowhere  along  its  gloomy  pathway 
did  the  Nation  afford  sadder  examples  of  abject 
subserviency  to  its  behests."  {Henry  Wilsoti's 
Jlist.  of  the  Slave-Poicer^  II.  p.  7  and  I.  p.  587.) 
The  venerable  Albert  Gallatin,  who  during  his 
political  life  of  more  than  forty  years  had  been 
identified  with  the  Democratic  party,  chnrncteriz.ed 
the  manner  in  which  Texas  was  annexed  as  "  con- 
trary to  good  faith  and  the  laAV  of  nations ;  "  of  the 
war  with  Mexico  he  was  accustomed  to  say  that, — 
"  it  was  the  only  blot  upon  the  escutcheon  of  the 
United  States."  {Stevens'  Life  of  Gallatin,  j).  864.) 
The  Assumed  Boundary. — The  joint  resolutions 
passed  by  a  Congress  lander  the  control  of  the  slave 
owners  and  their  special  allies,  assumed  that  the 
llio  Grande  instead  of  the  Nueces  was  the  boundary 
between  Texas  and  Mexico — the  area  thus  uncere- 
moniously seized  on  paper  was  about  "2,000  scpiare 
miles.  To  this  territory  Texas  had  no  right ;  even 
if  she  did,  by  resolutions  of  her  Congress,  Dec.  19, 
1836,  declare  the  Rio  Grande  to  be  her  boundary, 
for  she  had  neither  ever  occupied  any  portion  of  it. 


THE  MEXICAN  WAH.  125 

nor  exercised  over  it  any  control  whatever.  Said 
Judge  Ellis,  president  of  the  convention  which 
framed  the  Constitution  of  Texas,  the  XaiieY  assumed 
to  extend  her  boundaries  to  the  Rio  Grande  "  solely 
and  professedly  with  a  view  of  liaving  a  large  mai-gin 
in  her  negotiations  with  Mexico,  and  not  with  the 
expectation  of  retaining  them  as  they  now  exist  on 
the  statute-book."  (  Wilson^  II,  j).  9.)  Strange  as 
it  may  seem,  President  Polk,  "  disregarding  the 
rights  of  Mexico  and  the  amenities  of  good  neigh- 
borhood," sent  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor  into  this  very 
district,  first  to  Corpus  Christi,  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  Nueces  to  take  possession,  and  four  months 
afterAvard  to  build  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Rio 
Grande  a  fort,  whose  guns  commanded  the  public 
square  of  the  Mexican  town  of  Matamoras  on  the 
oi)posite  side.  Gen.  Ampudia,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Mexican  forces,  courteously  reqiiested 
Gen.  Taylor  when  the  latter  entered  the  district,  to 
retire  beyond  the  Nueces,  and  not  to  provoke  hos- 
tilities. Gen.  Taylor  declined  to  comply  with  the 
request,  meanwhile  referring  the  Mexican  com- 
mander to  the  Government  at  Washington,  under 
whose  orders  he  acted.  The  war  was  soon  after  com- 
menced by  Mexican  troops  attacking  an  American 
])arty  of  dragoons,  who  were  reconnoitering  within 
the  district.  {American  People,  pp.  753,  756,  757.) 
IVIany  prominent  Democratic  statesmen  claimed  that 
Texas  had  no  rights  in  the  territory  between  the 
Nueces  and  the  Rio  Grande.  Among  these  were 
Silas  Wright  of  New  York,  Thomas  H.  Bentou  "f 


126  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

Missouri,  Levi  "Woodbury  of  New  Ilampsliire,  and 
otluMs,  wliilo  it  was  the  universal  o])inion  among 
tlie  AVliigs,  ]>ut  the  sentiments  of  all  these  were 
overridden  by  the  advocates  of  slavery  extension, 
wlio  controlled  both  the  Southern  and  the  Northern 
Democracy — the  latter  with  but  few  excei)tions. 
The  si)irit  Avhlch  animated  this  war  may  be  inferred 
from  the  answer  made  by  Mr.  N.  P,  Trist,  who 
negotiated  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  and 
who  had  his  instructions  from  "Washington,  to  the 
Mexican  Commissioners  Avhen  they  requested  to  have 
incorporated  in  the  treaty  a  guarantee  that  the  terri- 
tory Avhich  they  were  about  to  cede  should  be  pre- 
served in  a  state  of  freedom.  The  rei)ly  was  the  exag- 
gerated statement  that  if  it  were  "  increased  tenfold  in 
value,  and  in  addition  to  that,  covered  a  foot  thick 
with  pure  gold,  on  the  single  condition  that  slavery 
should  be  forever  excluded,"  he  would  not  "  entertain 
the  offer  for  a  moment,  nor  even  think  of  sending  it 
to  his  government.  No  American  President  would 
dare  submit  such  a  treaty  to  the  Senate."  (Jtones 
G.  Jilaine's  "  Ticentij  Years  of  Congress^''\.^'^.l^. 
The  Cost  of  Texas. — Let  us  look  at  this  o})er- 
ation.  The  Mexican  war,  from  the  battle  of  Palo 
Alto  to  the  treaty  of  peace  at  Guadalupe  Hidalgo 
(February  2,  1848),  lasted  about  seventeen  months, 
but,  in  addition,  the  time  occupied  in  the  ]n-epar- 
ations  before  and  in  the  disbandment  of  the  soldiers 
afterward  covered  altogether  at  least  two  years,  if 
not  more.  The  vast  naval  armament  to  invade 
Mexico  on  the  east,  and  also  another  sent   round 


MEXICAN  WAE.  127 

Cape  Horn  to  make  an  attack  on  her  western 
borders,  cost  an  immense  sum ;  then  the  volunteers 
— 50,000  in  number  at  once  accepted — one-half  to 
be  mustered  into  the  service,  and  the  other  held  as 
a  reserve.  Within  a  few  weeks,  200,000  men  had 
volunteered.  The  expenses  of  this  war  are  not  at 
all  covered  by  the  nominal  sums  expended  by  the 
government,  such  as  pay  to  the  soldiers  and  expense 
of  their  equipments,  etc.,  but,  to  be  strictly  accurate, 
there  must  be  included  the  loss  of  time  by  the 
volunteers,  in  their  being  thus  withdrawn  from  the 
active  duties  of  life  for  nearly  two  years ;  and,  also, 
the  large  sums  privately  contributed  by  individuals 
to  their  friends  who  volunteered ;  and,  in  addition,we 
have  been  paying  j^ensions  to  the  soldiers  of  this  war 
down  to  this  hour.  But  considerations  of  wounds, 
and  sufferings,  and  deaths,  are  not  deemed  worthy 
of  estimate  by  those  who  recognize  only  the  value  of 
the  money  expended,while  the  varied  demoralizations 
incident  to  war,  and  losses  of  friends  and  relations, 
came  home  to  the  people  at  large,  and  Avere  viewed 
by  them  from  a  different  standpoint  than  that  of 
the  heartless  one  of  money  alone.  "  In  the  Mexican 
war,  120  officers  and  1,400  men  fell  in  battle  or  died 
of  wounds  in  the  United  States  army,  while  100 
officers  and  10,800  men  died  of  diseases  contracted 
in  the  war."  (Gen.  Egbert  L.Viele).  After  what  had 
been  paid  out  in  current  expenses  during  the  war 
itself,  there  remained  a  debt  in  round  numbers  of 
$130,00i),000,  but,  when  we  take  into  consideration 
all  the  (expenditure  that  fell  upon  the  peojjle  them- 


V2S  POLITICAL    PARTIES. 

Kolvt's,  with  this  iimiH'nso  sum  and  the  interest 
ujuMi  it,  (lie  cMitire  cost  of  the  Mexican  war  to  the 
j)eoi»le  of  the  United  Stales  must  have  been 
$'jr)0,000,000,  if  not  more.  However,  we  will  put  it 
at  ^'200,000,000,  which  is  certainly  below  the  actual 
amount. 

The  area  of  Texas  is  274,356  square  miles — thus 
being  about  70,000  square  miles  larger  than  that  of 
France.  Seven  years  after  annexation  (1852)  its 
number  of  inhabitants  was  only  one  to  three  square 
miles,  as  based  \i])on  the  number  of  their  votes  cast 
in  the  Presidential  election  of  that  year.  Not  an 
acre  of  this  immense  domain  was  asked  by  the 
United  States  government  as  a  part  remuneration 
for  the  expenses  incurred  in  this  war,  which  was 
undertaken  at  the  call  of  Texas  for  protection ; 
neither  did  the  State  thus  defended  offer  an  acre  ! 
Slavery  demanded  the  whole,  though  with  compara- 
tively little  expense  to  itself,  and  Northern  Demo- 
cratic leaders  sustained  the  demand.  As  a  matter 
of  justice  to  the  whole  people  of  the  Union,  some 
such  arrangements  for  remtmeration  ought  to  have 
been  made,  since,  ])erha])s,  four-fifths  of  the  ex- 
j)enses  of  that  war  were  borne  by  the  people  of  the 
Free-Labor  States. 

The  number  of  square  miles  in  Texas  is  274,856, 
but  by  deducting  the  water  surface  along  the  coast, 
— three  miles  out — and  that  within  the  State,  which 
may  be  estimated  together  at  2,500  square  miles,  there 
would  be  left  of  land,  available  for  use,  271,856  square 
miles.     The  cost  of  the  Mexican  war,  at  its  lowest 


MEXICAN  WAR.  129 

estimate,  being  $200,000,000,  it  would  follow  that 
the  people  of  the  United  States  paid  for  Texas  at 
the  rate  of  $736  pei*  square  mile,  or  $1.15  per  acre 
— this  price  jter  acre  being  only  ten  cents  less  than 
that  asked  by  the  government  for  its  own  unoccu- 
pied lands  outside  railroad  grants. 

Cost  of  California,  Louisiana,  and  Alaska. — 
Compare  this  $1.15  per  acre  with  the  prices  paid 
for  other  territory,  in  some  respects  more  valuable. 
The  amount  i)aid  for  California,  including  the 
Mesilla  Valley,  was  $25,000,000  ;  to  this  is  to  be 
added  the  $3,500,000  due  from  Mexico  to  Ameri- 
can citizens,  which  was  assumed  by  the  United 
States,  making  in  all  $28,500,000 ;  this  was  at  the 
rate  of  $46.65  per  square  mile,  or  seven  cents  an  acre. 
The  purchase  of  Louisiana  was  at  the  rate  of  $14.20 
a  square  mile,  or  two  cents  an  acre.  The  cost  of 
Alaska,  purchased  in  1867,  was  $7,200,000,  or  at  the 
rate  of  $12.47  per  square  mile,  or  not  quite  ^?oo  cents 
an  acre.  The  Alaska  Fur  Company  pays  annually 
about  $300,000  to  the  United  States  government 
for  the  privilege  of  capturing  fur-bearing  seals  on  the 
Prybiloff  Islands,  belonging  to  Alaska  in  Behring's 
Sea.  This  is  $12,000  more  than  the  interest  on  the 
purchase  money  at  4  per  cent. 

The  people  of  each  political  party  willingly  ac- 
quiesced in  the  purchase  of  California,  as  thus,  in 
connection  with  the  Territories  of  Oregon  and 
Washington,  already  in  our  possession,  our  domain 
would  extend  across  the  Continent  from  ocean  to 
ocean.     This  mode  of  obtaining  territory  was  legi- 


130  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

timato,  thouLch  it  tlid  ,u:row  out  of  tlie  contingency 
of  llio  ^Mexican  war,  and  was  in  accordance  with  a 
sense  of  justice.  Tlie  ])rovidential  discovery  of 
<i«)ld  in  California  afterward  enhanced  the  value  of 
the  purchase  immensely.  The  price  per  acre  was 
three  times  as  much  as  tliat  i)aid  for  Louisiana,  by 
far  the  most  valuable  purchase  ever  made  by  the 
United  States  {American  People.,  p.  558 — Map). 
The  latter's  rich  soil,  genial  climate  and  rainfalls, 
combine  to  produce  abundant  cro])s  of  cereals  and 
afford  ])asturage  for  domestic  animals,  aiul  in  addi- 
tion it  includes  our  gold  fields  north  of  the  paral- 
lel of  4'2  degrees  and  those  of  Colorado  south  of 
that  line.  But  when  the  mines  of  precious  metals 
in  both  regions  shall  have  been  exhausted,  this  im- 
mense territory  of  arable  and  grazing  land  will  be 
still  increasing  in  value,  as  its  soil,  growing  more 
and  more  fertile,  under  proper  cultivation,  will  con- 
tinue to  bless  the  Nation  by  its  abundant  crops — 
and  thus  go  on  forever. 


XX. 

KANSAS. 

Increased  Greed. — Thus  in  1848,  was  Texas  an- 
nexed and  the  war  with  Mexico  brought  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue  ; — yet,  here  was  the  beginning  of  the 
end  of  slavery !  On  account  of  this  success  the  arro- 
gance and  the  demands  of  the  exultant  slave-ownei'S 
became  still  more  exacting,  while  their  Democratic 
allies  in  the  North  remained  true  in  their  allegiance. 
Instead  of  being  content  with  the  acquisition  of 
Texas,  with  its  area  larger  than  that  of  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi  and  Louis- 
iana combined,  and  also  in  a  latitude  and  cHmate  in 
which,  if  anywhere,  slavery  could  flourish,  the  ad- 
vocates of  its  extension  demanded  still  more  territory. 
It  would  have  taken  more  than  half  a  century  for 
that  wasteful  system  to  exhaust  the  virgin-soil  of 
Texas,  as  it  had  already  reduced  to  sterility  that  of 
the  old  Slave-Labor  States  on  the  Atlantic  slope.  Not- 
withstanding, they  cast  longing  eyes  upon  a  territory 
of  fresh  and  fertile  soil,  lying  directly  north  of  Texas^ 
and  west  of  the  State  of  Missouri.  It  was  about  550 
miles  distant  from  the  center  of  Texas  to  that  of  the 
territory,  and  in  a  climate  that  was  not  deemed  well 
adapted  to  slavery ;  yet  they  determined  to  have 
it.     Within  a  few  years  they  set  in  train  a  series  of 


i;}2  POIJTTCAL   PARTIES. 

]il(iltiiii;s,  wlilcli  resulted  in  events  that  roused  the 
iiulii^nation  ot"  tlie  jteoplc  of  tlie  Free-Labor  States, 
iiu'hiding  great  numbers  of  Democrats,  whose  self- 
respeet  was  touched,  when  they  saw  how  they  had 
been  used  as  tools  in  the  Texas  affair  and  in  the 
Mexican  war.  We  give  the  account  here,  to  pre- 
serve the  connection. 

Fugitive  Slave  Law. — These  indications  called 
into  existence  a  determination  in  the  minds  of 
many  influential  men  in  the  Free-Labor  States  to  re- 
sist, in  a  legal  way,  the  further  aggressions  of  the 
slave-power.  One  of  the  outgrowths  of  that  power 
was  the  famed  Fugitive  Slave  bill  of  1850  ;-the  most 
cruel  enactment  found  among  the  statutes  of  the 
Nation.  Its  harshness  excited  in  the  North  a  still 
stronger  feeling  of  hostility  against  a  system  whose 
influence  could  produce  such  a  law.  The  humanity 
of  the  peojjle  led  in  some  of  the  Free-Labor  States  to 
the  passage  of  laws  known  as  Personal  Liberty  bills. 
These  were  designed  to  protect  free  colored  men 
from  being  seized  as  though  they  were  fugitives  and 
carried  into  slavery,  as  well  as  to  afford  arrested 
negroes  themselves  a  fair  trial,  to  establish  whether 
they  were  fugitive  slaves  or  not.  There  is  not  an 
instance  on  record,  in  which  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  ])erson  thus  arrested  was  a  fugitive,  but  that  the 
individual  Avas  given  up  by  a  decree  of  the  court 
or  commissioner ;  yet  perhaps  there  was  no  other  in- 
stance during  this  ])eriod,  in  Avhich  certain  leaders 
in  the  North  j>layed  into  the  hands  of  the  slave- 
holders as  much  as  they  did  by  their  misrepresenta- 


KANSAS.  133 

tions  of  the  intent  of  these  Personal  Liberty  bills 
which  were  simplj  protective  of  the  j^lainest  indi- 
vidual rights. 

Squatter  Sovereignty. — As  a  measure  prelim- 
inary to  the  seizure  of  Kansas,  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise was  repealed  in  1854.  This  measure, 
passed  in  1820,  after  long  and  exciting  debates,  had 
admitted  Missouri  as  a  Slave  State  on  the  condition 
that  the  territory  west  of  it  should  be  forever  free  : 
a  compact  as  solemn  and  binding  as  any  covenant 
ever  was.  And  in  1854  it  Vv'as  deliberately  violated 
by  the  Democratic  party,  at  the  demand  of 
their  Southern  allies  ;  who,  with  their  accustomed 
tact,  used  as  their  agent  a  celebrated  Democratic 
Senator  from  the  North,  whom  they  allured  to  in- 
troduce the  bill  into  the  Senate.  The  history  of 
this  breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  slave-power 
with  the  people  of  the  Free-Labor  States,  ought  to 
be  better  known,  but  we  cannot  in  this  connection 
go  into  detail.  Let  it  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  with 
this  rej^eal  was  also  connected  another  enactment, 
organizing  the  two  territories  Kansas  and  Nebraska; 
the  design  being  to  obtain  possession  of  the  former 
in  the  interest  of  slavery,  although  it  was  included 
in  the  land  set  apart  and  agreed  upon  in  the  Missouri 
Compromise  as  to  be  free.  In  the  enactment  ju&t 
mentioned  was  incorporated  a  principle,  afterward 
known  as  "  Squatter  or  Popular  Sovereignty,"  which 
was  intended,  so  its  authors  said,  to  enable  "  the 
people  of  the  territories  to  be  free  in  their  political 
action,  and  when  they  came  to  frame  their  State 


134  rOIATlCAL  PARTIES. 

Constitutions  and  ask  admission  Into  the  Union, 
tlu>v  coul<l  c.rercise  this  riglit,  and'  adopt  or  reject 
.sAnrry."  At  first,  tlio  Sontht'rn  ])rinR'  movers  of 
this  sehonie  ai)i)arently  took  bnt  little  interest  in 
the  matter,  and  left  its  management  to  their  North- 
ern allies  ;  the  former  even  intimating  that  it  was 
a  Northern  rather  than  a  Southern  movement;  but 
they  were  too  sagaeious  not  to  be  on  the  alert. 

"  Bleeding  Kansas." — The  bill  having  become 
law,  and  Kansas  thrown  open  for  settlement,  emi- 
grants began  to  pour  in  from  the  Free-Labor  States 
in  order  to  found  permanent  communities  and 
homes  for  themselves  and  their  families.  The  time 
had  now  come  for  the  advocates  of  slavery-exten- 
sion to  act,  and  they  also  sent  men  into  the  terri- 
tory, not  with  their  families  and  to  found  permanent 
settlements,  but  men  anned,  with  the  intention  to 
control  the  elections  and  make  the  future  State 
slaveholding.  These  men — characterized  at  the  time 
as  "  Border  Ruffians  " — crossed  over  the  line  from 
Missouri ;  drove  off  the  legal  voters,  took  possession 
of  the  ballot-boxes,  and  in  the  first  territorial  elec- 
tion (Nov.  1854)  chose  a  delegate  to  Congress,  and 
four  months  afterward  by  similar  means  chose  a 
Legislature — all  in  the  interest  of  slavery.  After- 
ward these  worthies  were  joined  by  great  numbers 
of  the  worst  class  of  roughs  from  some  of  the  South- 
ern cities.  The  Free-State  men  were  taken  by  sur- 
prise at  this  outrage,  but  they  soon  rallied  and  began 
to  arm  themselves  in  order  to  maintain  their  rights. 
They  were  reinforced  by  still  greater  numbers  of 


KANSAS.  135 

emigrants  from  the  Free-Labor  States  who  remained 
as  citizens,  while  those  who  came  in  the  interest  of 
the  slaveholders  did  not,  as  they  came  only  to  con- 
trol elections.  "  Outrages  of  almost  every  kind 
were  committed,  robberies,  murders,  illegal  arrests 
and  property  destroyed,  most  of  which  belonged  to 
the  Free-State  men."  These  disorders  lasted  about 
three  years. 

The  Political  Result. — The  delegate  to  Con- 
gress, chosen  in  the  manner  mentioned  above,  pre- 
sented himself  (Dec.  1855)  to  be  admitted.  The 
House  refused  his  request,  but  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  investigate  the  charges  of  fraud  in  the  elec- 
tions in  the  territory.  The  committee  after  full 
investigation  reported  that  the  charges  of  fraud 
were  fully  sustained.  The  House  of  Representatives 
passed  a  bi'l  declaring  the  acts  of  the  "  Territorial 
Legislature  "  that  had  been  thus  f raxidulently  elected 
to  be  null  and  void,  both  on  the  ground  that  its  enact- 
ments "were  cruel  and  oppressive,"  and  that  "the 
said  Legislature  was  not  elected  by  the  legal  A^oters 
of  Kansas,  but  was  forced  upon  them  by  non-residents 
in  violation  of  the  organic  act  of  the  territory." 

Now  what  was  the  attitude  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Democracy  in  the  Free-Labor  States  on  these  doings  ? 
They  gave  the  jjerpetrators  of  these  political  crimes 
moral  encouragement.  Their  newspapers  apologized 
for  these  outrages  ;  when  they  could  not  deny  the 
facts,  they  belittled  the  crimes,  as  exaggerated,  and 
raised  the  cry  of  horror  because  the  Free-State  men, 
who  went  there  with  their  families  as  bona  fide  set- 


136  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

tlors,  (larcil  defend  themselves  with  arms  against  the 
marauders  from  across  the  Missouri  line. 

The  ]>ro-slavery  aggressions,  lasting  from  the 
ineeption  of  the  Mexican  .War  and  the  annexation 
of  Texas,  and  continuing  on  into  this  struggle  for 
freedom  in  Kansas,  were  the  occasion  of  an  indig- 
nant uprising  in  the  Free-Labor  States,  that  in  the 
end  led  to  the  extinction  of  their  primary  cause — 
slavery.  The  opposition  to  the  extension  of  the 
system  into  the  territories  became  embodied  in  the 
formation  of  the  Republican  party  in  1856.  Its 
primary  object  was  to  prevent  such  extension,  but 
not  to  interfere  with  the  system  in  the  States  where 
it  existed.  This  organization  was  composed  of 
Whigs  and  self-respecting  Democrats,  who  refused 
to  submit  any  longer  to  the  dictation  of  the  Demo- 
cratic organization  nnder  the  orders  of  the  Southern 
slave-owners.  To  this  new  organization  was  also 
attracted  the  great  majority  of  the  thinking  young 
men  of  the  Free-Labor  States. 


XXI. 

FILIBUSTERING. 

Cuba. — After  the  Mexican  "War,  about  the  time 
that  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor  became  President  (1849), 
— the  Candidate  of  the  Whig  party, — a  scheme, 
having  its  origin  in  the  Slave-holding  States, 
was  set  on  foot  to  secure  the  annexation  of  Cuba  to 
the  United  States.  The  motive  for  this  movement 
is  not  difficult  to  divine.  The  honest  President 
issued  a  proclamation,  cautioning  the  people  against 
violating  the  laws  by  engaging  in  such  enterprises. 
Yet,  in  less  than  a  year  after  its  issue  (1850),  six 
hundred  men — nearly  all  Americans — under  Gen. 
Lopez,  a  Spaniard,  eluding  the  subordinate  United 
States  officers,  got  to  sea,  and  landed  at  Cardinas 
in  the  island  of  Cuba.  Finding  the  people  hostile 
instead  of  friendly, however,  they  thought  it  prudent 
to  reembark  at  once,  and  make  their  way  to  the 
nearest  United  States  port.  Key  West,  Florida. 
They  did  so,  but  were  closely  pursued  by  a  Spanish 
war  steamer.  The  following  year  Lopez  found 
means,  it  was  said,  again  to  elude  the  United  States 
officers  at  New  Orleans,  and  to  sail  from  that  port 
to  Cuba  with  four  hundred  and  eighty  men.  But 
this  expedition  was  still  more  unsuccessful  than  the 
former,  for  it  was  attacked  and  totally  defeated, 


138  POUTICAL   PARTIES. 

Lojtoz  liimsolf  being  takrn  ])risonor  and  speedily 
executed.  It  was  evident  tliat  Cuba  could  not  bo 
"annexed"  )»\- means  of  filibustering  expeditions; 
Konie  otluT  jilan  must  be  adoi)ted. 

The  Ostend  Manifesto. — Three  years  afterward 
by  direction  of  the  Democratic  President  Frank- 
lin  Pierce,  three  American  foreign  ministei's, 
James  IJuchanan,  John  Y.  Mason  and  Pierre 
Soule,  accredited  severally  to  Great  Britain, 
to  France,  and  to  Spain,  met  Oct.  9,  1854,  in 
consultation  at  Ostend  in  Belgium,  and  thence 
issued  a  sort  of  })roclamation,  known  as  the 
"  Ostend  Manifesto  "  from  the  place  of  its  issuance. 
This  "  manifesto,"  in  relation  to  our  government 
seizing  Cuba  if  Spain  would  not  sell  it  to  us,  is  of 
the  same  objectionable  character,  though  not  pre- 
cisely in  form,  as  the  expeditions  just  mentioned, 
the  difference  being  in  the  dignity  of  those  proposing 
in  this  manner  to  obtain  the  coveted  island.  The 
purchase,  or  the  seizure  as  the  case  might  be,  was 
designed  for  the  special  benefit  of  the  slave-owners, 
who  had  obtauied  Texas  for  th.mselves  alone  some 
dozen  years  before.  The  threat  thus  unblushingly 
made  of  appropriating  a  neighbor's  property  in  this 
peculiar  style,  astonished  the  world,  as  well  as  the 
best  men  of  our  own  land  w^ho  deemed  the  Nation 
dishonored  by  the  proceeding.  The  plea  given  was, 
that  if  Cuba  was  likely  to  become  similar  to  San 
Domingo — that  is,  its  slaves  become  free — it  would 
be  for  the  interest  of  the  United  States  to  take  pos- 
session  of  the   island  in   seK-protection,   lest   the 


FILIBUSTERING.  139 

slaves  in  the  Southern  States  might  thus  be  induced 
to  rise  in  rebellion.  Every  intelligent  person  knew 
that  the  latter  would  never  hear  of  Cuba  becoming 
like  San  Domingo,  or  anything  else,  but  their  mas- 
ters would  learn  if  such  were  the  fact,  and  act  ac- 
cordingly, with  the  aid  of  the  National  government 
then  under  their  influence.  Of  course  those  in  the 
United  States,  who  would  decide  on  the  condition 
of  Cuba,  were  the  slave-owners  themselves  and 
those  in  sympathy  with  them,  their  Northern  allies. 
We  can  easily  imagine,  if  there  had  been  opportunity, 
in  what  manner  that  decision  would  have  been 
made.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  United  States 
Government  never  disavowed  this  Democratic 
"  manifesto  "  nor  explained  it  to  the  world. 

Other  Raids. — Soon  after  the  issue  of  this  man- 
ifesto and  evidently  encouraged  by  it,  another  phase 
of  this  disregard  of  the  rights  of  our  neighbors  was 
exhibited  in  the  many  raids  made  into  Central 
America  and  Cuba,  which  were  either  permitted 
or  connived  at,  if  not  by  the  authorities  at  Wash- 
ington, by  their  subordinates.  These  raiders  mider 
the  pretense  of  being  philanthropists  proclaimed 
their  wish  to  aid  the  poor  down-trodden  people  to 
obtain  their  liberty.  Yet  the  latter,  unfortunately, 
did  not  realize  their  sad  condition,  but  were  the 
first  to  oppose  the  invaders,  who  professed  to  have 
oome  with  such  benevolent  intentions. 

Responsibility  of  Democracy. — These  out- 
rages, by  which  the  Nation  was  disgraced  in  the 
eyes  of  Christendom,  were  the  outgrowth  of  the 


UO  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

plottings  of  the  slave-owners,  with  the  connivance 
of  their  Northern  allies,  to  extend  the  area  of 
slavery,  and  for  that  purpose  to  seize  the  rich  island 
of  Cuba,  to  which  they  could  send  their  surplus 
slaves  from  the  border  States,  as  well  as  from  the 
cotton  lields,  with  the  expectation  that  their  labor 
would  thus  be  much  more  profitable  in  raising  sugar 
and  tobacco.  The  same  holds  true  of  Central 
America,  where  "Walker  and  his  marauders  at- 
tempted to  overturn  the  existing  government.  These 
crimes  wci'e  encouraged  by  the  Democratic  leaders, 
but  repudiated  by  the  better  portion  of  the  party 
itself  and  also  by  the  Whigs.  These  leaders  in 
their  national  convention  of  1856,  called  to  nominate 
a  candidate  for  the  Presidency — James  Buchanan — 
adopted  a  resolution  commending  in  plain  terms 
the  raid  then  in  progress  in  Central  America  by 
Walker  and  his  fellow-filibusters,  saying :  "  The 
people  of  the  United  States  cannot  but  sympathize 
with  efforts  which  are  made  by  the  people  of  Cen- 
tral America  to  regenerate  that  portion  of  the  Con- 
tinent." We  need  no  further  evidence  of  the  utter 
disregard  of  the  ricchts  of  our  neicchbors  in  these 

o  o  o 

proceedings,  nor  of  the  aniinus  that  inspired  them. 


XXII. 

FOREIGN  RELATIONS. 

Protection  of  Adopted  Citizens. — There  are 
also  two  instances  in  whicli  our  dealings  with  other 
foreign  governments  may  be  noticed  ;  one  in  re- 
spect to  the  protection  of  our  foreign  born-citizens, 
the  other  for  j^olitical  effect.  The  Democratic 
party  has  deserved  Avell  of  the  nation  in  its  j^rompt 
protection  of  American  citizens  in  foreign  lands ; 
no  difference  is  made  between  the  native-born  and 
the  adopted.  Such  was  the  case  of  Martin  Koszta, 
a  Hungarian  (1853),  who  had  been  engaged  in  a 
political  revolution  in  1848  in  Austria,  and  had  fled 
to  this  country,  and  in  legal  form  had  declared  his 
intention  of  becoming  an  American  citizen.  Having 
occasion  to  visit  Smyrna,  on  the  coast  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, he  there  placed  himself  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  United  States'  consul,  but,  notwith- 
standing, he  was  seized  by  an  unauthorized  band  of 
men  and  carried  on  board  an  Austrian  ship  as  a 
criminal.  He  appealed  for  aid  to  the  consul,  but 
the  commander  of  the  Austrian  vessel  refused  to 
set  his  prisoner  at  liberty.  Captain  Ingraham,  of 
the  sloop  of  war  St.  Louis,  happened  just  then  to 
come  into  port,  and  after  investigation  he  found 
that  Koszta  was  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the 


142  roUTlCAL   PAltTIMS. 

United  States,  tl»ereu)>on  he  demanded  his  releaseo 
The  Austrian  naval  oHicer  hesitated  to  comply,  but 
on  being  warned  that  he  woidd  be  fired  upon,  he 
released  the  i)risoner.  Captain  Ingraham  was  sus- 
tained by  his  own  government  in  the  position  he 
had  taken.  Fi-i)m  that  day  to  this,  the  precedent 
lias  been  estal)lished,  that  our  ado])ted  citizens 
under  all  circumstances  will  be  protected  in  foreign 
lands  in  their  rights  as  such  by  the  government  of 
the  United  States. 

Political  Brag. — Sometimes,  however,  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  leaders  have  make  mistakes  that 
savored  of  bluster,  as  in  the  presidential  canvass  in 
1844,  when  the  object  evidently  was  to  make  sure 
of  the  support  of  certain  classes  of  our  foreign 
poj)ulation,  whose  prejudices  against  England  were 
usually  of  a  most  pronounced  character.  The 
occasion  was  in  respect  to  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween Oregon  and  the  British  possessions  in  the 
Northwest.  The  question  had  been  an  open  one 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  had  hitherto  been 
treated  by  both  parties  in  their  discussions  of  the 
subject  in  a  courteous  and  amicable  manner.  But 
now  the  Democratic  leaders  introduced  into  their 
platfoiTQ  the  assumption  that  the  United  States  had 
a  "  clear  and  indisputable  "  title  to  the  territory  up 
to  54  degrees  40  minutes  north,  which  statement 
was  rounded  into  the  electioneering  phrase  :  "  fifty- 
four,  forty;  or  fight."  This  show  of  belligerency 
secured  the  votes  of  large  numbers  of  those  who 
were   willing  to   twit   England,   and   might   have 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  143 

passed  as  a  stratagem  to  captivate  Hibernian  votes, 
but  when  President  Polk  embodied  the  same  senti- 
ment in  his  first  annual  message  to  Congress,  the 
relations  were  changed  from  a  mere  newspaper  or 
electioneering  statement,  to  what  now  became  little 
short  of  an  insult  to  a  neighboring  nation.  England 
made  no  demonstration,  but  jireserved  a  dignified 
silence.  At  length  the  President  and  his  advisei-s 
stepped  down  from  the  position  thus  uncourteously 
assumed  in  the  canvass  and  in  the  message,  and 
proposed  to  have  the  line  run  from  a  point  on  a 
tributary  of  Lake  Superior  on  the  parallel  of  49 
to  the  Pacific — that  \9,  five  degrees  and  forty  min- 
utes^  or  about /b«r  hundred  miles  south  oi  what  was 
originally  assumed  to  be  the  correct  boundary. 
The  whole  proceeding  was  undignified  in  the  eyes 
of  other  nations,  and  came  near  involving  the 
country  in  war.  {JBenton^s  Thirty  Y'ears'  View, 
II,  chaps.  156-159 ;  Amei'ican  People,  pp.  755- 
756. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  many  that  this  "  electioneer- 
ing slogan  "  was  the  occasion  of  the  Americans  los- 
ing the  territory  of  the  present  British  Columbia. 
The  Northwest  Company  was  quite  indifferent  to 
the  influx  of  settlers,  as  in  that  region  there  were 
very  few  fur-bearing  animals.  The  joint  occupation 
would  have  probably  continued  as  it  had  done  for 
years  ;  meanwhile  American  settlers  in  large  num- 
bers would  have  found  homes  therein,  and  a  mutual 
arrangement  between  the  governments  might  have 
amicably  settled  the  difficulty. 


XXIII. 

TARIFF  RECORDS. 

1846  and  1857.— William  IT.  Seward,  Senator 
from  the  State  of  New  York,  said  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate  when  the  Democratic  tariff  of  1846  was  en- 
acted, that  within  ten  years  its  effect  Avould  be  seen 
in  the  prostration  of  tlie  industries  of  the  country, 
lie  judged  from  what  liad,  liitherto,  been  the  effect 
Tijwn  these  industries  when  they  were  made  to 
succumb  to  the  low  wages  paid  operatives  abroad, 
He  knew  we  could  not  compete  with  Europe  without 
a  tariff'  that  would  equalize  these  rates  of  wages, 
or,  that  not  doing  so,  Ave  must  put  the  wages  of 
our  workingmen  and  w'omen  down  to  the  mere  pit- 
tance paid  by  the  foreign  manufacturers.  To 
avoid  the  latter  evil,  as  well  as  to  develop  the 
resources  of  the  country,  the  Whigs,  with  far-seeing 
policy — for  it  was  successful — had,  in  1842,  imposed 
a  tariff  intended  to  raise  the  needed  revenue,  and 
also  making  it  sufficiently  high  to  enable  the  man- 
ufacturers to  i)ay  their  workmen  liberal  wages.  The 
ca])italist  cannot  afford  to  invest  his  money  where 
it  will  not  pay  a  fair  j^ercentage,  nor  should  he  be 
expected  to  i)ut  his  capital  where  it  would  be  lost, 
any  more  than  it  should  be  expected  of  the  laboring 


TARIFF  EECOBDS.  145 

man  or  skilled  mechanic  to  work  for  half-price,  or 
for  nothing. 

The  lowered  Democratic  tariff  of  1846  did  not 
immediately  have  its  full  effect  in  causing  the  in- 
dustries of  the  country  to  languish,  as,  in  spite  of 
that  influence,  they  wei-e  at  first  kept  up  by  the  ne- 
cessities induced  by  the  Mexican  war,  and  the  acqui- 
sition of  California — the  latter  leadinsr  to  the  finding 
of  gold  in  1848.  The  excitement  in  consequence  of 
this  discovery,  and  the  immense  immigration  thither 
from  the  old  States,  carried  forward  the  industries 
of  the  country,  especially  those  pertaining  to  trans- 
portation and  furnishing  supplies.  Tens  of  thousands 
of  laboring  men  went  to  California,  and  when  there, 
had  to  obtain  their  supplies  from  the  older  States, 
while  their  places  thus  vacated  in  the  eastern  fields 
of  labor  were  filled  by  others,  and  at  advanced 
wages.  "  Every  means  of  conveyance  was  called 
into  requisition,  from  the  emigrant's  pack-horse  and 
wagon,  to  the  sailing-vessel  and  steamship.  Some 
went  in  caravans  over  the  plains  and  the  Rocky 
Mountains  ;  some  crossed  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
and  made  their  way  up  the  Pacific  coast ;  others 
took  ship  and  passed  round  Cape  Horn.  The  fer- 
ment extended  throughout  the  civilized  world. 
Multitudes  of  gold-seekers  were  soon  on  their  way 
from  the  different  countries  of  Europe  and  South 
America,  and  even  distant  China  sent  her  thoxi- 
sands."  This  discovery  "  touched  the  nerves  of 
industry  throughout  the  world,"  infused  new  life 
into  commerce,  and  awakened  a  spirit  of  adventure 


1  IG  POLiriCAL  r ARTIES. 

and  imlividual  exertion  never  before  known.  (Ame- 
rican  ]\'ople,  p.  8*25).  The  energy  which  devel- 
o])od  the  requisite  industries  to  supply  these  de- 
mands was  preeminently  great ;  while  so  many 
laborers  and  mechanics  went  to  the  land  of  gold, 
that  those  who  remained  in  the  old  States  received 
higher  wages  in  consequence. 

When  treating  of  the  industries  of  this  period, 
certain  writers  ignore  both  the  influence  of  the  hiofh 
"Whig  tariff  of  1842,  the  Mexican  war,  and  the  re- 
vival of  business  in  consequence  of  the  discovery  of 
gold,  but  attribute  the  industrial  development  to 
the  revenue  tariff  of  1846,  and  to  that  alone.  This 
has  been  strenuously  argued  within  a  few  months. 
The  plan  of  that  tariff,  as  stated  by  one  of  its 
friends,  was  "  to  charge  a  lesser  duty  on  partly 
manufactured  goods  in  their  various  stages,  and  a 
higher  rate  of  duty  as  they  ascended  to  a  state  of 
perfection."  (John  S.  Morse  before  the  tariff  com- 
mission, October  3, 1882,  N.  Y.  Tribune.)  The  low 
rate  thus  imposed,  when  we  had  not  acquired  skill, 
would  have  the  tendency  of  crushing  out  our  feeble 
beginnings ;  when,  if  the  higher  duty  had  been  laid 
on  the  imperfect  article,  we  could  have  advanced 
toward  "perfection,"  at  Avhich  stage  we  would  be 
better  able  by  means  of  acquired  skill  and  machin- 
ery, to  withstand  the  effect  of  a  lower  rate  of  duty. 

The  Democratic  advocates  for  revenue-only  ad- 
mit "  the  superiority  of  our  labor-saving  machinery," 
but  claim  that  it  "  neutralizes  the  great  bugbear  of 
pauper  labor."     The  purport  of  this  assertion  is, 


TARIFF  RECORDS.  147 

that  the  American  manufacturer  must  sacrifice  the 
advantage  which  he  has  gained  by  his  inventions 
and  use  of  labor-saving  machinery,  transfer  that 
advantage  to  the  foreign  manufacturer,  and  take 
away  tlie  higher  wages  paid  his  employees,  or  in 
other  words,  give  a  premium  on  ignorance  and  low 
wages.  The  period  immediately  succeeding  the 
tariff  of  1846  was  one  of  intense  activity  and  com- 
mercial success  so  long  as  the  needs  of  war  and  the 
California  excitement  continued.  But  the  low 
customs  finally  had  their  natural  effect ;  the  country 
was  flooded  with  cheaper-made  foreign  goods,  our 
manufacturers,  stimulated  by  the  excitement  of  the 
times,  produced  more  than  they  could  sell  under 
that  competition,  and  within  ten  years  the  inevitable 
financial  crash  did  come  in  1857.  Such  has  been 
invariably  the  result,  when  we  have  attemj^ted  to 
compete  with  the  low  wages  paid  those  who  work 
in  factories  in  Europe.  This  crash  led  to  the  amend- 
ing of  the  tariff  from  time  to  time,  and  the  indust- 
ries began  again  to  revive,  as  an  outlet  for  their 
products  still  continued  in  supplying  the  miners  in 
California  and  the  adjacent  regions.  Then  came 
the  war  of  the  rebellion,  and  this  led  to  the  adoption 
of  the  tariff  of  1861. 

When  we  put  a  tariff  so  low  as  not  to  cover  the  dif- 
ference betwen  the  amount  of  wages  paid  workmen 
in  this  country  and  that  paid  in  Europe,  our  indus- 
tries invariably  decline,  and  our  working  people  are 
thrown  out  of  employment.  How  do  we  otherwise 
account  for  their  unprecedented  success  since  1861  ? 


148  rOLiriCAL   PARTIES. 

The  financial  revulsion  in  1873  was  an  exception; 
ns  it  '"  was  a  noi-cssary  consequence  of  the  sj)ecula- 
tion  and  over-production  incited  by  the  inflated 
currency  of  the  ten  previous  years."  (  Wayland 
and  Chapinh  Political  Economy.,  p.  158.)  Since 
January  1st,  1879,  business  has  been  conducted  on  a 
basis  of  specie  payments,  and  the  inflation  of  the  cur- 
rency in  the  nature  of  the  case  cannot  occur. 
The  tariff  should  be  so  adjusted  as  to  j^ay  revenue, 
and  encourage  manufacturing,  and  thus  give  em- 
plo}Tnent  to  our  own  working  people  at  living  wages, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  developing  the  material 
resources  of  the  land.  But  our  free-trade  friends 
would  levy  no  duties  on  foreign  made  articles,  and 
thus  throw  out  of  employment  our  own  work- 
peoj)le,  who  may  be  engaged  in  manufacturing  the 
same  class  of  goods,  as  it  would  be  impossible  for 
our  capitalists  or  manufacturers  to  contend  against 
the  low  wages  paid  in  Europe  ;  while  almost  to  the 
same  extent,  tlie  advocates  for-revenue-only  would 
deprive  them  of  employment,  flood  the  country 
with  foreign  merchandise,  fill  the  public  treasury, 
and  bankrupt  the  people  themselves. 

The  Tariff  Commission.— The  Democratic  lead- 
ers, after  a  lapse  of  fourteen  years  (from  1861), 
obtained  control  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
1875;  but,  the  Senate  being  Republican,  it  was  use- 
less for  them  to  attempt  lowering  the  rates  of  the 
tariff  established  in  1861,  under  which  the  in- 
dustries of  the  country  had  prospered  marvelously. 
Notwithstanding  this  result,  they  had  inveighed  for 


TARIFF  RECORDS.  149 

the  last  ten  years  against  this  tariff,  but  preferred 
to  postpone  action  on  it  till  after  the  presidential 
election  in  1876.  In  1878  it  was  evident  that  on 
the  fourth  of  the  following  March  they  would  also 
control  the  Senate  by  a  majority  of  nine,  but  two 
months  before  that  time,  resumption  of  specie  pay- 
ments would  take  place,  and  this  might  possibly  in- 
terfere with  the  expediency  of  changing  the  rates 
on  imports.  They,  however,  resolved  to  make  the 
attempt  to  introduce  a  tariff  "for  revenue  only." 
The  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  prepared  a  bill  making  reductions  in  order 
to  reach  that  standard,  and  likewise  imposed  duties 
on  many  articles  of  raw  material  used  in  American 
manufacturing,  which  had,  hitherto,  come  in  free  of 
duty.  The  chairman  in  presenting  the  bill  to  the 
House  prefaced  it  by  saying  :  "If  I  had  the  power 
to  commence  de  novo,  I  should  reduce  the  duties 
fifty  per  cent.,  instead  of  less  than  fifteen  per  cent, 
upon  an  average,  as  now  proposed."  This  was  at  a 
time  when  the  wages  paid  by  our  manufacturers 
were,  on  an  average,  about  sixty  per  cent,  higher 
than  those  paid  in  Europe.  This  bill  did  not  pass 
the  House,  a  sufficient  number  voting  against  it  of 
those  who  are  nominally  Democrats,  but  on  the 
tariff  and  the  banking  question,  in  their  political 
opinions  sympathize  with  the  Republicans. 

Meanwhile  the  tariff  question  continued  to  be 
discussed  in  the  newspapers  and  in  the  canvass  for 
members  of  the  XLVIIth  Congress  (1881-1883). 
The  Republican  majority  of  that  Congress  at  its 


150  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

llrst  sossioTi,  antliori/i'd  tlie  Frt'sulent  to  appoint  a 
"  TaiitT  C'uminission,"  coDsistiiif;  of  nine  members. 
It  was  tlu'ir  duty  "  to  take  into  consideration  and  to 
thorouijhly  investigate  all  the  various  questions  re- 
lating to  the  agricultural,  commercial,  mercantile, 
manufacturing,  mining  and  industrial  interests  of 
the  United  States,  so  far  as  the  same  may  be 
necessary  to  the  establishment  of  a  judicious  tariff, 
or  a  revision  of  the  existing  tariff,  iipon  a  scale  of 
justice  to  all  interests."  The  members  of  this  Com- 
mission "R-ere  recognized  as  men  of  great  intelli- 
gence on  these  special  subjects.  In  their  investi- 
gations they  spent  several  months  in  receiving 
testimony  and  opinions.  They  also  visited  through- 
out the  coutitry,  the  different  centers  of  mercantile, 
manufacturing  and  mining  industries,  and  invited 
intelligent  gentlemen,  who  were  engaged  in  these 
various  avocations  to  appear  before  them  and  give 
their  views;  they  also  solicited  information  from 
writers  and  experts  or  those  who  took  special  in- 
terest in  studying  the  subjects  under  investigation. 
The  "  Commission "  made  their  report  to  Con- 
gress at  the  commencement  of  its  second  session, 
and  after  due  consideration  the  latter  adopted  the 
"  Ileport "  with  but  few  changes,  and  enacted  the 
tariff  as  thus  revised,  which  revision  was  based  on 
the  general  principle  that  it  produced  more  revenue 
than  we  needed.  In  addition  at  the  same  session 
Congress  endeavored  to  take  off  about  $70,000,000 
of  import  and  revenue  taxes — leaving,  with  little  al- 
teration, the  tax  on  whiskey  and  tobacco,  they  being 


TARIFF  RECORDS.  151 

deemed  luxuries  of  doubtful  utility.  It  may  be 
noticed  that  the  Democratic  leaders  in  this  Con- 
gress persistently  opposed  this  revised  tariff,  but 
made  efforts  to  have  the  tax  on  whiskey  and 
tobacco  removed  or  reduced. 

Present  Party  Attitudes, — No  thoroughly  or- 
ganized party  in  the  country  can  be  said  at  this 
writing  to  be  in  favor  of  absolute  "  free-trade  "  as  a 
practical  working  basis  ;  but  the  Democratic  leaders 
have  for  years  worked  in  this  direction  rather  than 
toward  the  protection  of  American  industries,  and 
during  the  presidential  campaigns  of  1876  and  1880, 
in  the  former  announcing  themselves  in  favor  of  a 
tariff  "  only  for  revenue,"  and  in  the  latter,  "  for 
revenue  only."  This  simply  means  that  duties 
should  be  imposed  so  as  to  produce  revenue  for  the 
National  go\'ernment  expenses,  without  regard  to 
the  needs  of  American  mechanical  industries.  It  is 
perhaps  not  correct  to  say  that  the  Democratic 
jjarty  leaders  as  such  favor  a  strictly  revenue  tariff, 
for  having  an  inkling  of  the  unpopularity  of  that 
line  of  legislation,  they  hesitate  to  avow  anything 
definite  on  the  subject ;  but  on  the  one  hand  they 
wish  to  cultivate  the  "  Solid  South,"  which  for  the 
most  part  believes  in  free-trade,  and  on  the  other 
to  give  the  working  man  the  impression  that  they 
are  his  special  friends.  Thus  lacking  the  courage 
of  their  convictions,  are  they  not  likely  to  fail  in 
securing  the  confidence  of  either  the  pure  free^ 
trader  or  the  strict  protectionist  ? 


XXIV. 

"  THE  POOR  MAN'S  PARTY." 

The  Free-Traders  of  the  XLVIIIth  Congress, 
(1884),  made  a  desperate  effort  to  embody  the 
general  feeling  of  the  Democratic  party  in  a  bill 
reducing  the  Tariff.  This  was  under  the  leadership 
of  Mr.  Morrison,  Chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee.  But  it  is  the  year  of  the  Presidential 
election ;  it  was  widely  believed  that  the  "  Foi-- 
Revenue-Only  "  cry  lost  the  Democrats  the  election 
in  1880  ;  and  the  i^arty,  as  such,  was  divided  in  feel- 
ing, in  policy,  and  in  action.  About  one-fifth  of 
the  Democratic  Congi*essmen  joined  with  the  Re- 
jniblicans,  and  the  bill  was  lost.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  about  the  free  trade  tendencies  of  most  of 
the  Democratic  leaders  ;  but  while  there  is  a  ques- 
tion of  their  being  entrusted  or  not  entrusted  with 
power  in  a  near  election,  there  will  always  be  doubt 
about  their  actio)i.  And  this  uncertainty  is  for 
business  men  and  interests  about  as  bad  as  a  cer- 
tainty of  the  worst. 

Some  Notorious  Pacts. — The  Democratic  lead- 
ers have  nearly  always  induced  the  organization 
as  such,  to  vote  against  measures  designed  and 
adapted  to  be  specially  beneficial  to  the  "  poor  man," 


"  THE  POOR  MAN'S  PABTY."  153 

while  at  the  same  time  proclaiming  themselves  his 
only  true  friends.  This  ardent  zeal  in  his  behalf 
and  great  love  for  his  interests,  have  been  proclaimed 
especially  every  four  years  in  their  National  con- 
ventions when  a  presidential  candidate  was  about  to 
be  nominated,  and  the  "  poor  man "  must  be  con- 
ciliated ;  the  echoes  of  the  same  sentiment  are  heard 
throughout  the  land  in  the  State  conventions  of  the 
party  during  the  intervening  years. 

It  may  be  asked,  if  these  leaders  wished  to  hold 
in  hand  on  election  days  the  man  who  worked  for 
wages,  why  did  they  not  aid  him  by  promoting  the 
mechanical  industries  of  the  country  and  thus  give 
him  employment  ?  Reasonable  answers  may  be 
given  to  this  question  :  one  is  that  the  party  was 
under  the  control  of  the  slave-holders  up  to  1861, 
who  were  more  or  less  opposed  to  the  manufacturing 
interests  in  the  Free-Labor  States.  The  Whig  party 
of  that  period  was  in  favor  of  developing  the  re- 
sources of  the  land,  and  in  this  policy  the  present 
Republican  party  is  its  legitimate  successor ;  the 
design  is,  to  protect  our  National  industries,  and  in 
so  doing  keep  up  the  wages  of  the  laboring  man ; 
affording  him  aid  indirectly,  and  at  the  same  time 
fostering  his  self-respect,  by  giving  him  employment, 
and  an  opportunity  to  support  himself  and  family. 
A  second  answer  is :  as  this  ground  of  thus  aiding 
the  workpeople  was  already  occupied,  the  leaders 
of  the  Democracy  seem  to  act  as  if  they  hoped  to 
secure  certain  results  by  prejudicing  the  unenlight- 
ened portion   of  the  laboring  classes  against  their 


i:.4  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

niililovcrs,  and  thus  iiuluoe  tliem  to  vote  in  opposi- 
tion to  whatovor  the  latter  may  favor.  IViis  fact 
is  more  or  less  uotorious. 

An  Instance  in  Point. — Tlie  famous  tariff  of 
'4l!  revi\«.'(l  the  industries  of  the  country  in  a  re- 
markable manner,  and  brought  into  existence  many 
lu'w  manufactures  and  works.  In  Pennsylvania  an 
iron  furnace,  which  had  been  long  in  existence,  was 
owned  and  operated  by  a  gentleman  proverbial  for 
his  kindness  toward  those  whom  he  employed.  This 
furnace  under  the  influence  of  the  tariff  just  men- 
tioned Avas  much  enlarged,  and  it  was  threat- 
ened that  if  the  Democratic  organization  succeeded 
in  electing  its  candidate  for  the  Presidency  and  a  ma- 
jority of  the  members  of  Congress  in  1844,  this  tariff 
would  be  repealed,  and  one  enacted  instead  more  in 
accordance  with  the  notions  of  the  slave-owners. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  proprietor  thought 
pro])er  to  call  together  the  men  in  liis  employ^ 
and  explain  to  them  the  effect  this  proposed 
tariff  would  have  upon  his  special  manufacture,  and 
upon  the  men  themselves  in  res]>ect  to  their  pay, 
as  he  would  either  have  to  curtail  his  oj^erations  or 
reduce  their  wages.  He  exjjressed  the  wish  that  they 
would  consider  the  matter,  and  vote  in  such  manner 
as  to  aid  themselves  as  well  as  himself ;  showing 
them  that  in  the  coming  issue  their  interests  and 
his  own  were  mutual.  Time  passed  on  ;  the  leaders 
of  the  Democracy  sent  their  oratoi-s  to  harangue 
the  workmen  on  the  great  privilege  of  voting  as 
fcreemen,  and  all  that.     They   especially   exhorted 


"  THE  POOR  MAN'S  PARTY."  155 

them  not  to  be  influenced  by  their  em])loycr,  who 
belonged  to  the  "  silk  stocking  gentry,"  that  being 
the  epithet  then  used  to  i:)rejudice  the  "  poor  man  " 
against  those  who  gave  him  employment.  The 
election  came  off ;  of  the  workmen,  the  sons  of  the 
Emerald  Isle  almost  to  a  man  voted  the  Democratic 
ticket.  In  due  time  the  tariff  of  1846  was  enacted, 
and  it  inflicted  a  severe  blow  upon  the  general  in- 
dustries of  the  coxmtry,  but  especially  on  the  inter- 
ests involved  in  the  iron  manufacture.  Nearly  one- 
half  the  furnaces  in  Pennsylvania  in  the  course  of  a 
year  or  two  had  to  curtail  their  operations  or  close 
their  fires  entirely. 

The  fxirnace  just  mentioned  was  compelled  after 
a  while  to  reduce  the  amount  of  its  operations,  and 
a  portion  of  the  men  were  of  necessity  dismissed. 
The  owner  dispensed  with  the  services  of  those 
who  had  voted  both  to  injure  his  interests  and  their 
own.  Throughout  that  whole  region  this  benevo- 
lent iron-master  wns  unmercifully  abused,  not  be- 
cause he  had  dismissed  those  workmen  who  did 
all  they  could  to  injure  him  in  his  business,  but  as 
the  partisan  news])a})ers  put  it,  because  he  had 
done  it  for  opimo)i's  sake — that  jewel  of  inestim- 
able price,  so  dear  to  these  leaders. 

This  instance  is  not  unlike  many  others  that 
could  be  named,  when  workmen  have  ignorantly 
voted  against  their  own  interests,  while  being  the 
dupes  of  cunning  demagogues.  How  is  this  evil 
to  be  removed  ?  Only  by  education  ;  but  the  appli- 
cation of  that  remedy  seems   almost   hopeless,  so 


i:)0  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

long  as  ignorance   and  mere  partisansliip  have  so 
much  sway. 

The  Working  Man's  Capital.— If  the  laboring 
man  or  mechanic  or  wiioever  works  for  wages, 
woulil  avail  himself  of  proj)er  information,  he  would 
labor  to  ))romote  the  general  industry,  and  uniform 
development  of  the  resources  of  the  country. 
Prosperous  industry  in  its  varied  forms  is  a  god- 
send to  the  man  who  works  for  his  living,  because 
he  can  then  obtain  employment.  2^he  brain,  the 
hand  and  the  mechanical  skill  of  the  working  man, 
are  his  capital,  as  much  as  the  money  invested  in 
the  factory  or  iron  foundry  and  their  equipments  of 
machinery,  are  the  capital  of  the  proprietor.  The 
owner  of  these  factories  derives  his  income  or  divi- 
dends from  the  application  of  his  capital  in  the  busi- 
ness of  manufacturing  ;  just  in  the  same  respect  the 
capital  of  the  mechanic  is  brought  into  practical 
development  when  he  is  employed,  and  his  dividend 
or  income  is  his  wages.  The  former  would  have  no 
income  if  he  did  not  invest  his  capital,  nor  would 
the  latter  have  wages  paid  him  imless  he  invested 
his  capital,  or  in  other  words,  worked.  But  the 
former,  having  his  capital  in  available  funds,  can 
live  upon  it;  the  latter,  on  the  other  hand,  cannot 
live  on  his  capital — his  brains,  muscle  and  skill — he 
must  labor,  or  invest  them ;  the  one  party  can  put 
his  money  in  a  bank  or  business  and  derive  inter- 
est from  it,  the  other  cannot  deposit  his  muscle  and 
skill  at  all.  If  labor  should  cease  there  could  be  no 
income  from  the  money,  any  more  than   from  idle 


"  THE  POOR  MAN'S  PARTY."  157 

physical  strength  and  skill.  That  legislation  there- 
fore, is  humane,  which  in  its  influence  aids  the  cap- 
ital of  both  parties  to  be  employed,  and  thus  pro- 
duce dividends. 

The  Working-  Man's  Income. — The  workman 
or  laborer  obtains  employment  only  when  the  capi- 
talist invests  his  money  in  agriculture  or  in  some 
kind  of  manufacturing,  in  which  persons  are  needed 
to  work  in  order  to  make  the  investment  pay :  the 
result  is  a  mutual  benefit  to  both  the  employer  and 
those  employed,  and  a  dependence  of  the  one  upon 
the  other.  In  truth,  the  greater  advantage  accrues  to 
the  working  man,  as  he  receives  absolutely  more  in 
proportion — it  is  estimated  by  practical  men  to  be 
from  80  to  90  per  cent — to  the  amount  of  his  capi- 
tal than  the  employer,  though  they  may  labor 
equally.  The  latter  may  deny  himself  luxuries 
when  he  does  not  actively  employ  his  money,  but 
with  the  mechanic  it  is  a  far  more  serious  matter, 
for  when  financial  troubles  come  and  manufacturing 
industries  languish  or  cease,  the  misfortune  falls 
peculiarly  hard  upon  the  working  people.  The 
owner  of  factories  can  fall  back  upon  his  capital  for 
individual  wants,  when  he  cannot  derive  an  income 
from  it,  but  the  "poor  man"  has  no  such  resource, 
he  must  live  upon  his  income,  i.e.  his  icages,  and  if 
he  has  no  employment  he  must  suffer.  For  this 
reason  that  large  class  whose  only  capital  is  their 
brains,  skill  and  muscle,  suffer  the  most  whenever 
commercial  ti'oubles  sweep  over  the  land. 

Mutual  Interests.— The  investment   of  money 


158  POLITICAL  L ARTIES. 

in  a  m.-iiUKT  to  give  occuj)ati<)n  to  tlic  "  capital"  of 
the  working  ]ieoj»lo,  is  one  of  the  greatest  boons 
conferred  ni)on  that  class, — abinit  three-fourths  of 
the  adult  |io])ulati(»n, — :is  they  otherwise  could  not 
sujiport  their  families.  The  ])erfect  industrial  de- 
veloitnieut  of  the  resources  of  the  United  States, 
depends  ui)on  the  harmony  and  good  will  existing 
between  these  two  kinds  of  ca})ital — the  one  in  the 
form  of  money,  and  the  other  in  the  form  oi  physi- 
cal strenyth  and  skill ;  the  harmonious  blending  of 
these  two  classes  of  investments  in  energetic  em- 
])loyment,  secures  the  success  of  the  people,  and 
their  happiness,  and  thereby  indirectly  promotes 
the  interests  of  the  whole  Nation. 

There  should  be  the  greatest  harmony  and  kind- 
ness of  feeling  existing  between  those  employing 
and  those  employed.  The  interests  of  both  parties 
are  involved  in  such  enterin-ises,  and  both  ought  to 
be  governed  by  the  principles  of  the  golden  rule. 
If  such  were  the  case  many  difficulties  would  vanish. 
The  fault  of  disagreement  is  not  always  on  one 
side  alone.  It  is  hard  upon  the  workmen  to  find 
the  corporation,  or  individual  proprietor,  who  em- 
l)Ioys  them,  refusing  what  the  former  deem  sufficient 
wages  ;  they  then  have  a  right  to  ask  more,  and  the 
request  should  be  heard  respectfully,  and  granted, 
if  consistent  with  the  best  interests  of  both  parties. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  no  more  pleasant  for  those 
who  employ  workmen  to  find  them  manifesting  no 
special  interest  in  their  employers'  business,  but 
oftentimes  indifferent  to  it,  even  sometimes  looking 


''THE  pooB  MAN'S  party:'          159 

\\\)OYi  their  employer  as  inimical  to  them  rather  than 
friendly.  Were  it  not,  however,  for  oulside  influ- 
ences, arbitrary  rules  of  busybodies,  the  troubles 
that  sometimes  occur  between  those  Avho  pay  wages 
and  those  who  receive  them,  would  be  easily  ad- 
justed. 

The  Working  Man's  Choice. — It  cannot  be  too 
deeply  impressed  upon  those  who  are  employed  in 
factories,  in  which  the  articles  produced  are  in  direct 
competition  with  those  of  foreign  make,  that  it  is 
for  their  interest  that  such  industries  should  be  sus- 
tained, that  they  themselves  may  be  employed. 
They  should  resist,  in  self-defense,  the  policy  of  any 
political  party  that  would,  by  its  measures,  have  a 
tendency  to  lower  their  wages,  as  those  employed 
have  an  unquestionable  right  to  demand  a  fair  re- 
muneration for  their  labor.  To  secure  this,  the 
workingmen,  for  their  own  protection,  are  in  duty 
bound  to  study  this  question,  and  labor  to  attain 
that  end;  yet  liow  often  they  unwittingly  vote 
against  their  own  interests!  The  Democratic  party 
lias,  from  its  birth  to  the  present  day,  striven  to 
prejudice  the  workman  against  his  employer,  and 
also — chiefly  at  the  demand  of  the  South — to  dis- 
criminate against  American  industries ;  thus  doubly 
crippling  the  poor  man's  only  source  of  success  and 
ini})rovement.  Yet,  there  is  no  denying  that  the 
great  majority  of  our  unskilled  laborers,  and  even 
numbers  of  skilled  workingmen,  under  the  leaders 
of  the  Democracy,  almost  invariably  vote  that  ticket ; 


IGO  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

wo  soc  tliis  to-day,  osi)ecially  in  our  Norllicrn  cities 
and  aUtiii;  our  railways.  It  is  astonishing  liow  these 
workiiiiT  men  liavc  been  seduced  into  voting  against 
their  own  interests;  this  was  the  case  in  years  gone 
by  in  the  times  of  tlie  old  Whig  party,  that  strong 
advocate  for  developing  the  natural  resources  of 
the  country,  and  of  affording  employment  to  the 
working  people.  A  similar  spirit  })revails  when 
they  oppose  the  Republican  organization,  an  advo- 
cate to-day  of  the  same  policy  of  improving  the  in- 
dustrial interests  of  the  whole  land,  and  of  aiding 
the  laboring  classes  in  the  only  way  consistent  with 
the  latter's  self-respect.  Yet  the  majority  of  the 
workingmen,  especially  the  unskilled,  and  Ave  must 
say  the  unintelligent,  always  vote  against  that 
political  party  whose  measures  of  statesmanship 
have  given  them  employment ;  while  they  have  in- 
variably supported  its  rival,  to  whose  lack  of  prac- 
tical Avisdora  in  managing  the  finances  in  their 
varied  forms,  history  attributes,  with  only  one  ex- 
ception, that  of  1873 — the  commercial  failures  of 
the  nation. 

A  Word  of  "Warning. — This  is  not  the  place 
for  extended  argument  for  or  against  the  general 
principle  of  a  Protective  Tariff,  or  one  that  equalizes 
the  cost  of  production,  but  it  may  be  admissible  to 
urge  working  men — whether  they  labor  with  hand 
or  brain — to  study  this  question  carefully  ;  to  note 
the  condition  of  laborers  in  Europe,  for  instance, 
Great  Britain,  their  low  wages,  their  squalid  homes, 


"  THE  POOR  MAN'S  PARTY.'*  161 

their  social  degradation,  the  increase  of  pauperism 
among  them,  and  then  decide  whether  Americans 
are  prepared  to  pave  the  way  for  a  similar  down- 
ward course  for  their  workingmen. 

The  animus  of  the  South  toward  the  commercial 
industries  of  the  North  may  be  inferred  from  the 
following  :  Through  the  influence  of  Senator  Rob- 
ert Toombs,  of  Georgia,  aided  by  certain  Democratic 
members  from  the  North,  "  Congress  passed  an  act 
(June  14,  1858)  limiting  and  forbidding  the  Post- 
master-General to  make  a  contract  for  carrying  the 
ocean  mails  to  run  for  more  than  two  years."  This 
law  was  designed  to  break  up  the  "  Collins  Line  "  of 
ocean  steamers,  which  then  received  a  moderate 
sum  from  the  National  government  for  carrying  the 
mails  to  and  from  Europe.  Within  two  years  this 
noble  American  line  of  ocean  steamers  disappeared. 
At  the  above  date  the  Cunard  Line  was  running  un- 
der an  eleven  years'  contract,  calling  for  an  annual 
subsidy  of  $957,000.  Mr.  Cunard  testified  before  a 
committee  of  Parliament:  "If  I  had  got  the  con- 
tract three  months  sooner,  there  would  have  been  no 
American  line."  The  committee  asked  :  "You  are 
aware  that  the  line  (Collins)  ceased  because  the 
American  Government  withdrew  the  subsidy  ? " 
(Denslow's  Economic  Philosophy,  p.  657.) 


XXV. 

FREE  AND  SLAVE  LABOR. 

Sectionalism. — It  is  well  for  those  interested  in 
questions  of  labor  to  trace  further  the  influence  of 
the  Slave-Labor  States  and  their  right  hand,  the 
Democratic  party,  on  the  industries  of  the  whole 
Nation,  during  the  period  1832-1861.  From  the 
time  of  Nullification  onward  the  South,  instead  of 
laboring  harmoniously  to  develop  the  resources  of 
the  whole  country,  acted  for  their  own  section 
alone,  and  in  this  they  had  the  symj^athy  of  the 
greater  portion  of  the  Democracy  of  the  F'ree-Labor 
States.  This  was  the  struggle  between  the  North 
and  the  South ;  the  one  to  develop  the  country  in 
its  industries,  and  the  other  by  the  extension  of 
slavery  to  increase  the  political  power  of  their  own 
section  ;  the  one  by  the  increase  of  industrial  facili- 
ties to  benefit  all,  especially  the  "  poor  men "  or 
laborers,  the  other  by  strengthening  the  bonds  of 
slavery  to  gain  for  the  slave-holding  class  power 
and  influence.  The  latter  literally  held  all  the 
political  ofiices  within  their  own  States,  and  an  un- 
due proportion  in  the  services  of  the  national  gov- 
ernment ;  with  them  the  "  poor  men  "  were  simply 


FREE  AND   SLAVE  LABOR.  163 

"  white-trash,"  whose  only  use  was  to  vote  for  the 
candidates  whom  the  slave-owners  chose  to  nom- 
inate. 

As  the  slaves  failed  their  masters  in  not  being 
intelligent  enough  to  work  in  factories,  the  latter 
determined  to  go  into  Free  Trade  or  nearly  so,  and 
raise  only  the  raw  material — tobacco  and  cotton — 
which  Europe  must  buy,  and  pay  for  in  manufactured 
goods,  though  in  this  case  the  National  government 
would  receive  but  a  small  revenue,  and  on  some 
merchandise  none  at  all.  This  was  to  be  the  policy 
without  reference  to  the  industrial  interests  in  which 
so  much  capital  had  been  invested  in  the  Free- 
Labor  States,  and  in  which  great  advancement  had 
been  made  and  much  skill  acquired.  The  friends  of 
these  industries  argued  that  the  Slave-Labor  States 
themselves  had  unrivaled  facilities  for  manufacturing 
in  their  immense  and  available  water-power  and 
mineral  resources,  and  that  operatives  could  be  ob- 
tained from  the  non-slaveholding  whites.  But  the 
owners  of  slaves  had  a  special  contempt  for  that 
class  of  their  fellow-citizens,  and  were  unwilling  to 
promote  their  advancement  in  respect  to  education 
or  acquiring  mechanical  skill  in  manufacturing. 

From  the  year  1803  when  Louisiana  was  acquired, 
and  after  the  Missouri  Compromise  (1821)  was 
passed,  but  more  especially  after  the  attempt  at 
Nullification  (1832)  the  Southern  statesmen  acted 
preeminently  for  their  own  interests  with  little 
regard  to  those  of  the  other  portion  of  the  Union. 
The  student  of  our  history  can  see  that  after  the 
time    mentioned,  their   congressmen    and    senators 


10-i  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

bent  their  energies  to  seeure  the  supremacy  of  their 
own  section.  The  dream  of  Calhoun  was  under  all 
circumstances  to  liave  the  Senate  equally  divided  in 
its  members  between  slave-holding  and  free  States. 
The  admission  to  the  Union  of  territories  if  they 
were  free,  no  matter  how  populous,  was  opposed, 
unless  offset  by  slave-OA\niing  ones.  This  result  they 
could  not  obtain  without  assistance  from  the  Free- 
Labor  States,  which  had  the  majority  in  the  Lower 
House  because  of  their  greater  poi^iilation,  though 
the  South  had  from  ten  to  twenty  members  in  con- 
sequence of  the  representation  of  two-thirds  of  the 
slave  population.  They  were  aided  in  carrying  out 
this  policy  by  the  Democracy,  North,  the  members 
of  which  for  the  most  part  played  into  the  hands  of 
the  slave-holders  from  one  presidential  election  to 
another,  and  meanwhile  by  their  votes  in  Congress. 
The  slave-owners,  as  was  natural,  had  a  secret 
contempt  for  those  Northern  men  who  proclaimed 
themselves  believers  in  the  righteousness  of  the 
system.  They  were  willing  to  use  them  in  order  to 
carry  out  their  plans,  but  they  did  not  implicitly 
trust  them.  Thus,  when  they  fired  on  Fort  Sumter, 
their  indignation  was  of  the  sublime  order,  at  find- 
ing that  numbers  of  the  Northern  Democratic 
leaders  did  not  sanction  that  proceeding.  They 
then  charged,  but  unjustly,  the  M'hole  party  North 
of  treachery,  as  having  led  them  on  by  expressions 
of  sjnnpathy,  and  deserting  them  when  the  hour  of 
trial  came.  This  was  true  in  respect  to  some  of  the 
mere  political  leaders,  but  not  of  the  non-political 


FREE  AND  SLAVE  LABOR.  165 

Democrats — the  latter  were  not  in  the  secrets  of  the 
would-be  disunionists.  The  rebels  sneered  scorn- 
fully at  this  newly  developed  love  and  reverence  for 
the  "  Stars  and  Stripes."  Since  the  rebellion  the 
ex-Confederates  and  their  sons  in  trampling  upon 
the  rights  of  defenceless  freedmen  and  ex-Union 
men,  have  had  the  sympathy  and  connivance  of  the 
Northern  Democratic  leaders  as  fully  as  the  old 
slave-holders  had  it  in  the  palmiest  days  of  the 
system. 

The  True  Progress. — The  true  and  general  prog- 
ress of  the  country  always  has  been  in  the  Free-Labor 
States,  especially  from  1842  onward.  The  intelli- 
gence, the  industry  and  economy  of  the  people  of 
that  section,  in  spite  of  hindrances  in  the  form  of 
unfriendly  legislation,  urged  them  forward  in  na- 
tional prosperity,  at  an  unprecedented  rate.  The 
people  were  so  much  engaged  in  the  avocations  of 
life,  that  they  neglected  too  much  the  interest  they 
should  have  taken  in  National  affairs.  With  them 
the  office  of  being  a  Congressman  was  not  deemed 
of  so  much  importance  as  it  was  in  the  Slave-Labor 
States ;  but  if  they  had  valued  it  more,  they  might 
by  their  intelligence  and  votes  have  diminished  the 
number  of  Northern  Democratic  Congressmen  who 
followed  the  lead  of  slave-owning  members,  and 
saved  their  own  industries  from  many  reverses. 

The  South  as  a  section  adA'anced  very  little  in 
manufacturing  pursuits,  and  even  in  cultivating  the 
soil  little  improvement  was  made ;  in  truth,  under 
the  wasteful  system  of  slavery  the  cultivated  lands 


16()  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

trri'w  iKxircr  and  jKiorer.  The  poor  whites  or 
"  trash  "  as  they  wtM-e  contoiiiiituously  called,  were 
too  ij^noraiit  to  make  iinu'li  )iro<:;ress  in  those  oceupa- 
tions  that  re(|uiri'd  niechanieal  skill,  while  the  slave- 
owners and  their  sons  thought  it  beneath  their  dignity 
to  engage  in  industrial  pursuits.  The  ruinous  system 
of  slave-labor  meanwhile  was  impoverishing  the 
whole  region;  like  some  malign  power  it  moved  stead- 
ily forward,  soon  exhausting  the  virgin  soil  and 
neA  tr  making  it  more  and  more  fertile.  For  example 
in  Virginia,  which  had  the  j^ossibilities  of  being  the 
Garden  State  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  could  be  seen 
the  ruins  of  the  fine  mansions  of  other  days,  in  the 
midst  of  farms  once  flourishing,  but  now  exhausted 
and  overgrown  with  rubl)ish.  Instead  of  going 
industriously  to  work  and  availing  themselves  of 
their  magnificent  climate  and  fertile  soil,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  the  Southern  gentlemen  or  slave-owners 
mostly  spent  their  time  in  complaining  that  the 
merchants  and  manufacturers  of  the  Free-Labor 
States,  were  growing  rich  out  of  the  percentages  on 
their  cotton  and  tobacco  !  The  latter  by  their  in- 
dustry and  economy  obtained  the  means  to  purchase 
and  pay  for  these  products  at  their  market  value, 
and  either  manufactured  them  or  sold  them  in  Eu- 
rope. What  Avould  be  our  estimate  of  the  wisdom 
of  Western  farmers,  that,  to-day,  should  upbraid  the 
produce  merchants,  who  give  them  the  market  price 
for  their  wheat  and  then  send  it  to  supply  the  wants 
of  the  Eastern  States  or  of  Europe,  even  if  at  the 
the  same  time  they  made  a  fair  profit  ?  The  burdens 


FREE  AND  SLA  VE  LABOR.  1G7 

of  these  complaints  were  often  sent  abroad  from 
Southern  conventions,  and  manifested  themselves 
from  time  to  tin)e  on  tlie  lloor  of  Congress,  The 
main  remedy  jjroposed  for  these  evils  was  to  extend 
slavery  to  new  and  fertile  soils. 

Did  not  this  influence  extend  still  further,  and 
even  blunt  the  political  acumen  of  certain  Ameri- 
can statesmen  ?  History  shows  that  for  the  last 
half  century  the  statesmen  whose  writings  live, 
and  whose  memory  is  linked  with  the  promotion  of 
the  now  recognized  best  interests  of  the  nation, 
were  not  in  sympathy  with  the  Democratic  party. 
The  political  theories  which  the  latter  advocated 
could  not,  from  their  nature,  promote  policies,  hu- 
mane in  character  and  calculated  to  benefit  the 
whole  people  of  the  Union.  Instead,  these  states- 
men drifted  into  a  negative  position — one  of  apolo- 
gizing for  wrongs,  such  as  the  continuance  and 
extension  of  slavery,  and  indirectly,  as  a  collateral 
of  the  same  wrong,  encouraging  filibustering  raids 
against  our  Southern  neighbors  ;  while  in  another 
direction,  under  the  plea  of  opi^osing  fancied 
"sumptuary  laws,"  they  catered  to  the  liquor  in- 
terest. In  contrast  is  the  manly  vigor  with  which 
statesmen  not  thus  trammeled  opposed  these 
wrongs.  This  influence  entered  into  the  higher 
and  more  intellectual  walks  of  life.  The  reader 
may  ask  himself,  with  what  politicahoi'ganizations 
have  sympathized  the  great  majority  of  the  bright- 
est names  in  our  literature  ? 


XXVI. 

DEMOCRATIC  ORACLES. 

Jefferson  and  Jackson. — It  is  said  the  savage 
who  comes  in  contact  with  the  civilized  man  copies 
the  latter's  vices  rather  than  his  virtues.  The 
Democracy  claim  two  men — Thomas  Jefferson  and 
Andrew  Jackson — whose  names  they  use  somewhat 
after  the  manner  the  ancient  conjurers  used  great 
names  when  they  performed  their  enchantments. 
Jefferson  they  never  imitated  in  his  generous  sym- 
pathies for  humanity,  and  his  repugnance  to  the 
system  of  slavery,  so  contrary  to  his  better  nature  ; 
but  his  views  on  State  Rights  they  adopted,  and 
quoted  him  as  an  authority  and  an  infallible  oracle 
on  the  subject.  But  Jefferson — radical  as  he  was — 
never  held  the  extreme  vieics  of  State  Rights  or 
Sovereignty  attributed  to  him  by  certain  leaders 
who  ruled  the  Democratic  party,  neither  would  he 
have  thrown  the  Nation  into  the  convulsions  of  a 
most  cruel  and  uncalled  for  war,  to  continue,  much 
less  extend,  slavery.  These  leaders  endeavored  to 
carry  out  the  State  Rights  theories  of  John  C.  Cal- 
houn, rather  than  those  of  Jefferson,  but  they 
unjustly  attributed  them  to  the  latter,  in  order  to 
secure  greater  influence  by  the  authority  of  his 
name,  as  the  great  majority  of  the  party  North,  even 


DEMOCRATIC  ORACLES.  169 

if  they  so  desired,  had  not  the  intelligence  to  detect 
the  subterfuge,  nor,  afterward  to  unveil  the  de- 
ception. This  had  been  the  policy  of  these  leaders 
for  a  third  of  a  century,  but  more  systematized  in 
the  latter  portion  of  the  time.  Calhoun's  influence 
had  waned  very  much,  except  in  his  own  State, 
South  Carolina ;  his  connection  with  Nullification 
excited  a  feeling  of  distrust  in  the  other  States — 
hence  the  necessity  of  giving  a  certain  tinge  to  the 
views  of  Jefferson. 

As  to  Jackson,  the  Southern  wing  of  the  Democ- 
racy, and  quite  a  portion  of  the  Northern,  rejected 
his  dogma  as  expressed  by  hunself:  "The  Union 
must  and  shall  be  preserved,"  and  also  his  views  as 
to  the  development  of  the  industries  of  the  country ; 
but  adopted  his  theory  that  subordinate  officers  of 
the  government  ought  to  be  removed,  if  their  politi- 
cal views  were  not  in  accordance  with  those  of  the 
executive,  and,  also,  of  not  enforcing  a  law  which 
he  deemed  unconstitutional.  Jackson  was  con- 
sistent, as  he  removed  from  office  during  the  period 
he  was  President,  990  persons,  and  aj^pointed  in 
their  places  decided  political  friends  of  his  own. 
During  the  previous  forty-four  years  of  the  govern- 
ment's existence,  the  Presidents  had  found  it 
necessary  to  remove  only  74  persons  from  office, 
and  that  for  definite  reasons.  From  this  innovation 
of  Jackson  was  derived  nine-tenths  of  the  partisan- 
ship and  unseemly  struggle  for  office  that  thence- 
forth prevailed  in  the  Nation's  politics.  The  in- 
fluence in  the  mean  time  being  most  demoralizing 


170  '      roLlTlVAL  rAUTIES. 

ami  corruittiiiij:,  the  loaders  liavinc:  adopted  the 
c'(nnj)reheiisive  ajthorisin  of  Win.  L.  Marcy :  "To 
the  vietors  belong  tlie  spoils."  The  evil  extended  ; 
and  ^ve  find  the  AVliigs  to  some  extent,  but  partly 
in  retaliation,  carrying  out  the  same  system  of 
ehange,  though  only  in  respect  to  important  and  in- 
fiuential  offices.  Strictly  speaking,  the  latter  had 
really  control  of  the  national  government  only  four 
or  five  years  out  of  the  twenty-four  from  Jackson's 
time  to  the  commencement  of  the  Rebellion.  Nor 
should  be  overlooked  the  injurious  influence  of 
Jackson's  violating  the  laws  because  he  himself 
deemed  them  unconstitutional,  in  opposition  to  the 
decisions  of  the  legal  expounder  of  that  instrument 
— the  Suj)reme  Court  of  the  United  States.  This 
baleful  influence  has  permeated  the  minds  of  the 
leaders  of  that  party,  and  we  have  seen  them,  even 
in  municipal  affairs,  endeavoring  to  resist  the 
enforcement  of  State  laws,  in  accordance  with 
Jackson's  theory  of  personal  interpretation  of  any 
constitution — National  or  State. 

Disloyal  Incumbents  Removed. — When  the 
Kepublicans  came  into  power  (1861)  the  circum- 
stances Avere  peculiar ;  gi*eat  numbers  of  the  subor- 
dinate officers  and  employees  of  the  government 
were  found  to  sympathize  with  the  Secessionists, 
soon  to  be  in  open  rebellion.  In  view  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Union  struggling  for  life,  it  was  ex- 
pected, and  the  case  demanded,  that  among  its 
officers  there  should  be  no  half  way  loyalty  to  the 
preservation  of  the  Nation's  integrity. 


I 


DEMOCRATIC  ORACLES.  171 

Since  the  Union  has  triumphed,  the  reform  of  the 
Civil  Service  has  been  steadily  advancing,  and  the 
indications  are  that  the  affairs  of  the  government 
will  be  conducted  hereafter  on  the  principle  of  era- 
ploying  only  competent  and  honest  men,  and  re. 
moving  only  for  malfeasance  in  office.  True  patriot- 
ism deprecates  blind  partisanship,  and  appointments 
to  office  on  that  principle  only.  If  a  mercantile 
firm  or  a  manufacturing  company  were  to  cond\ict 
its  business  as  the  United  States  did  when  "  to-the- 
victors-belong-the-spoils  "  theory  was  the  rule,  it 
would  lose  its  credit  and  become  bankrupt. 


XXVII. 

CONSTITUTIONAL  INTERPRETATION. 

The  Real  Interpreter, — The  legal  interpreter  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  their  Su- 
preme Court.  But  Andrew  Jackson,  when  Presi- 
dent, announced  that  he  would  enforce  the  laws  as 
lie  understood  them,  without  reference  to  the  deci- 
sions of  that  court.  The  influence  of  this  political 
vice,  or  revolutionary  spirit,  has  had  a  baleful  effect 
from  that  day  to  this,  as  seen  whenever  his  admirers 
wished  to  prevent  the  enforcement  of  a  law,  which 
in  their  wisdom  they  deemed  unconstitutional,  oi 
of  which  they  wished  to  get  rid. 

The  Nation's  gratitude  is  due  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  whose  influence  up  to 
the  death  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall  did  much  in 
moulding  our  institutions  by  its  decisions;  thus 
standing  as  a  bulwark  against  which  dashed  the 
machinations  of  theorists  and  partisans,  demagogues 
and  factions.  Its  efforts  in  behalf  of  constitutional 
liberty,  and  in  training  the  better  class  of  citizens 
to  true  ideas  of  order,  were  beyond  calculation  in 
their  benign  influence  upon  the  stability  of  the  Na- 
tion. One  advantage  was,  that  the  judges  of  that 
comparatively  early  day  were  familiar  with  the 
understanding  which  the  framers  of  the  Constitu- 


CONSTITUTIONAL  INTERPRETATION.     173 

tion  themselves  had  of  its  meaning.  The  court's 
decisions  were  pure  and  legitimate. 

Jackson  appointed  more  judges  than  any  one  of 
his  predecessors  in  office,  and  apparently  more  be- 
cause they  coincided  with  him  in  his  peculiar  notions 
and  prejudices,  than  for  other  considerations.  The 
decisions  of  this  court  have  been  sometimes  tinged, 
unconsciously  no  doubt,  with  certain  theories,  rather 
than  pure  deductions  from  the  Constitution  and  its 
principles.  The  last  of  this  class — the  famous 
"  Dred  Scott  decision  " — was  in  its  character  more 
political  than  legal.  It  is  said  that  chivalry  went 
out  amid  the  laughter  of  Europe,  when  Don  Quix- 
ote was  published;  thus,  amid  the  disgust  of  the 
unprejudiced  thinking  minds  of  the  Nation,  vanished 
the  influence  of  such  decisions  as  the  "  Dred  Scott." 
Nevertheless,  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases,  the 
Supreme  Court  has  commanded  the  confidence  and 
the  approval  of  the  entire  Nation. 

Unauthorized  Interpretation, — The  great  riot 
to  resist  the  draft  in  the  city  of  New  York  (July, 
1863),  was  encouraged  by  the  assumption  that  the 
law  under  which  it  Avas  ordered  was  imconstitu- 
tional.  This  opinion  was  proclaimed  in  the  Dem- 
ocratic newspapers  for  weeks  before  the  draft  was 
to  take  place,  and  it  was  also  announced  that  the 
Democratic  Governor  of  the  State  coincided  with 
that  view  of  the  law,  and  this  statement  was  not 
contradicted  by  himself  nor  even  by  his  friends. 
According  to  the  favorite  Jacksonian  mode  of  dealing 
with  obnoxious  laws,  this  assumption  was  sufficient 


174  I'OIJTJCAL    I'AUTIEti. 

iH'ason  for  \\\v  iiiol*  to  n.ist  the  draft.  I  say 
''.lacksdiiia!!  iiiodc,"  for  altlioni;li  he  grandly  cnislicd 
the  woidil-l)(.'  XullitiiTs  of  South  Carolina,  it  was 
c'liii'lly  l)i'i-auso  ho  did  not  agree  with  their  opinion  of 
the  unconstitutionality  of  the  law  they  resisted ;  he 
Inniself  was  a  remorseless  Xullifier  whenever  he  did 
not  like  the  law.  It  was  evidently  known  to  a 
nutnber  of  these  political  leaders  that  some  form  of 
violence  was  about  to  be  used  in  preventing  the 
enforcement  of  the  draft  law,  yet  the  Governor  did 
nothing,  did  not  even  issue  a  proclamation  warning 
persons  against  committing  such  acts  of  violence. 
At  this  very  time  Lee  with  a  rebel  army  was  in 
Pennsylvania,  in  the  vicinity  of  Gettysburg,  and 
the  National  Guard  was  absent  from  the  city  in 
order  to  aid  in  repelling  the  invasion. 

On  the  third  day  of  the  riot  the  Governor  met 
great  numbers  of  the  rioters  face  to  face  in  the  City 
Hall  Park  and  said :  "  Let  me  assure  you  that  I  am 
your  friend ;  you  have  been  my  friends,"  and  ended 
by  promising  "  to  see  to  their  rights."  Instead  of 
denouncing  them  as  violators  of  law  and  liable  to 
punishment — for  he  well  knew  that  murders  had 
been  already  committed  by  the  rioters  then  in  his 
presence — he  took  the  ground  that  he  would  en- 
deavor to  have  the  draft  "  suspended  and  stopped," 
and  for  this  purpose  he  had  sent  his  Adjutant  Gen- 
eral to  "Washington  to  confer  Avith  the  President. 
He  then  asked  the  mob  to  desist  till  he  could  hear 
from  Washington.  This  implied  that  the  rioters 
were  justifiable  in  their  resistance  to  a  law,  which 


CONSTITUTIONAL  INTERPRETATION.     175 

they  were  told  by  their  leaders  and  newspaj^ers  was 
xmconstitutional. 

At  this  time  multitudes  of  innocent  and  helpless 
persons  had  been  wantonly  murdered,  and  whole 
blocks  of  buildings  burned  to  the  ground,  while  an 
asylum  for  colored  children — an  institution  man- 
aged by  benevolent  ladies — was  pillaged  and  burned 
and  its  little  inmates  driven  into  the  street.  It 
was  a  hideous  crime  in  those  who,  knowing  better, 
urged  on  the  ignorant  and  vicious  by  false  repre- 
sentations to  commit  these  terrible  outrages. 

Congressional  Nullification. — In  the  extra  ses- 
sion of  Congress  in  1879,  the  Democratic  majority 
attemjited  to  nullify  a  law  by  refusing  to  make  an 
appropriation  to  pay  the  salaries  of  the  United 
States  marshals,  because  they  and  their  deputies,  by 
laws  passed  by  a  former  Congress,  had  included  in 
their  duties  that  of  keeping  the  peace  at  the  jiolls, 
when  Congressmen  and  Presidential  Electors  were 
to  be  chosen.  This  refusal  was  under  the  plea  that 
the  law  by  which  this  duty  was  enjoined  upon  the 
marshals  was  unconstitutional ;  in  the  same  cate- 
gory they  i^laced  the  law  of  Congress  authorizing 
the  judges  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Courts  to 
appoint  supervisors  at  the  same  elections.  The 
Supreme  Court  has  since  decided  that  both  of  these 
laws  are  in  accordance  with  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution, which  says  (article  1,  section  4)  in  respect  to 
regulations  of  elections  for  representatives  in  the 
Lower  House  :  "  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  law 
make  or  alter  such  regulations."     In  this  instance 


17G  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

tho  majority  in  Congress  attempted  the  Jack- 
sonian  method  of  nullifying  a  law,  which  they 
o}>l>osed  but  could  not  repeal.  This  virtual  annul- 
ment of  these  election  laws  was  attached  to  the 
requisite  appropriations,  and  passed  Congress ;  but 
the  bill  was  vetoed  by  President  Grant.  The  plan, 
as  announced,  was  to  stop  the  wheels  of  government 
by  not  voting  the  necessary  supplies  of  money 
to-  defray  its  expenses,  and  thus  comi)el  the  presi- 
dent to  sanction  the  repeal  of  laws  which  the 
majority  in  Congress,  on  their  own  authority, 
assumed  to  be  unconstitutional.  The  effect  would 
have  been  to  remove  almost  every  guard  against 
fraudulent  voting,  when  Congressmen  and  Presiden- 
tial Electors  were  to  be  chosen.  {American  Peoj^le., 
p.  1083,  and  Ch.  XLI  of  this  m,ono(jraj)h^  Immedi- 
ately after  the  decision  on  this  law  was  made  by  the 
Su2>reme  Court,  a  representative  on  the  floor  of  the 
House  (March  10,  1880)  and  a  leading  member  of 
the  majority  (which  at  that  time  happened  to  be 
Democratic),  is  reported  to  have  proclaimed  his 
defiance  of  the  authority  of  the  Court  and  of  its 
decision  on  these  laws — the  sentiment,  it  seems,  Avas 
ai)j)lauded  vociferously  by  the  members  of  the 
majority  present. 

Summary  of  Faults. — It  would  seem  as  if  tho 
political  faults  of  Jefferson  and  Jackson  had  been 
embodied  in  certain  prominent  characteristics  of 
the  Democratic  organization,  namely :  States  Rights 
or  Sovereignty  leading  to  secession ;  extreme  par- 
tisanship in  removals  from  office  and  in  appoint- 


CONSTITUTIONAL  INTERPRETATION.     177 

ments  to  the  same ;  attemjats  to  nullify  laws  which 
they  dislike,  on  the  plea  of  their  being  iniconsti- 
tutional :  while  on  the  other  hand  stand  out  the 
rejection  of  Jefferson's  humane  sentiments  in  rela- 
tion to  slavery ;  and  the  repudiation  of  the  doctrine 
of  Jackson  in  respect  to  the  promotion  of  the 
industries  of  the  nation  and  the  development  of  its 
natural  resources,  and  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 


XXVIII. 

OrPOXEXTS   OF  THE   DEMOCRATS. 

The  Federalists. — To  more  fully  understand  one 
political  organization  it  is  sometimes  essential  to 
study  the  character  of  its  opponents.  The  Demo- 
cratic party  has  had  during  its  existence  three 
prominent  contemporary  and  antagonistic  ones — the 
Federalist,  the  Whig,  and  the  Republican.  The 
first,  the  honored  organization  iinder  "Washington, 
John  Adams,  Alexander  Hamilton,  James  Madison, 
and  that  galaxy  of  eminent  men,  practically 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  government.  They 
and  their  compeers  framed  the  Constitution — ■ 
and  on  the  principles  embodied  in  it,  based  a  gov- 
ernment which  has  stood  the  test  from  that  time  to 
the  present.  The  policy  of  Washington's  adminis- 
tration, especially  in  three  respects,  has  been  acted 
upon  by  the  national  government  ever  since ;  First, 
in  relation  to  neutrality  or  the  non-interference  in 
the  quarrels  of  foreign  nations.  This  policy  apj)cars 
so  rational  to-day,  that  it  seems  surprising  it  ever 
could  have  met  with  opposition  (see  p.  9);  Second, 
the  protection  to  American  industry,  as  set  forth  in 
the  preamble  to  the  first  tariff  j^assed  by  Congress 
and  signed  by  Washington  ;  and  third,  notwith- 
standing the  op]>osition  continued  for  many  years, 
the  financial  measures  inaugurated  by  the  first 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury — Alexander  Hamilton — 


OPPONENTS  OF  THE  DEMOCRATS.         179 

which  in   principle   virtually   remain  in   force  to- 
day, in  the  financial  policy  of  the  Nation. 

The  "Whig's. — When  the  Federal  party,  to  which 
the  American  peo2)le  owe  so  much,  passed  out  of 
power  (1801),  its  spirit  still  lingered  in  the  minds 
of  multitudes  of  the  intelligent  and  thoughtful  of 
the  land.  The  War  of  1812,  which  had  united  the 
people  as  patriots  and  obliterated  much  of  the  pai-- 
tisan  feeling  that  ever  existed,  was  followed  by  what 
was  termed  the  "  era  of  good  feeling."  In  time 
the  progress  of  the  country  demanded  new  measures 
to  meet  its  wants.  The  most  prominent  was  that 
of  easy  communication  from  one  jjortion  of  the 
country  to  another  for  the  purpose  of  commercial 
intercourse  and  travel.  The  spirit  of  the  old  progres- 
sive Federalists  gradually  revived,  but  under  an- 
other name,  for  a  time  that  of  National  Republican, 
then  that  of  Whig — borrowed  from  the  days  of  the 
Revolution.  This  party  grajjpled  with  the  question 
of  internal  improvements,  and  contended  that  the 
national  government  ought  to  aid  in  the  cause  ; 
while  the  Democratic  statesmen  of  the  time  were 
in  the  main  in  opposition  to  that  policy,  they  being 
worried  by  abstract  theories  on  the  question  whether 
Congress  had  the  constitutional  j^ower  to  aid  such 
improvements.  In  that  day  there  was  comparatively 
little  surplus  capital  in  the  hands  of  individuals  to 
invest  in  internal  impi'ovements  such  as  canals,  and 
in  turnpikes  or  macadamized  roads ;  at  that  time 
the  only  effective — but,  owing  to  the  manner  of  their 
construction,  expensive — means  of  transportation. 


180  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

But  iiitor-coinimiiuontion,  tlic  Whig  party  con« 
tciulecl,  Mas  one  of  the  most  effective  measures  to 
develop  the  resources  of  the  entire  country. 

The  "Whigs  were,  also,  ])recminently  the  pro- 
moters of  all  measures  having  an  elevating  influence 
upon  the  mass  of  the  people  ;  they  were,  especially, 
the  advocates  of  schools  of  learning,  and  of  all  forms 
of  industry.  These  statesmen  saw  that  in  a  young 
nation  like  ours,  where  the  laborers  or  those  who 
exchange  their  services  for  hire  were  few  in  com- 
parison with  the  whole  population,  wages  must 
be  comparatively  high.  The  situation  was  very 
different  from  that  of  the  Old  World,  and  they 
thought  it  useless  to  attempt  any  industry  in  com- 
petition with  Europe,  if  great  numbers  must  be 
employed,  unless  some  means  were  devised  to 
counterbalance  the  low  wages  paid  workmen  there. 
This  Avas  the  principal  point  of  contrast  between 
the  political  parties.  The  Whigs  proposed  to 
remedy  the  evil  by  a  legal  measure  to  equalize  this 
difference  in  amount  of  wages,  and  thus  ])ut  the 
American  workman  in  manufacturing  industries  on 
a  level  with  the  foreigners  by  means  of  a  tariff — 
called  "protective"  for  want  of  a  better  designa- 
tion. 

The  Republicans. — Numbers  of  the  purest  and 
ablest  statesmen  of  the  Slave-Labor  States  were 
Whigs,  and  were  also  slave-owners.  In  process  of 
time  political  questions  arose  which  involved  the 
system  of  slavery  ;  this  led  to  the  alienation  of  the 
Southern  wing  of  the  Whig  party,  because  on  that 


OPPONENTS  OF  THE  DEMOCRATS.        181 

subject  the  portion  Nortli  for  the  most  part  did  not 
sympathize  with  the  policy  of  extending  the  system 
to  the  territories.  Thus  deserted,  the  party  as  such 
became  powerless.  This  accession  of  Whig  strength 
thus  derived  made  the  Democratic  slave-ow-ners  still 
more  exacting  in  their  demands  in  behalf  of  human 
bondage,  while  as  a  natural  result,  a  stronger  oppo- 
sition arose  in  the  Free-Labor  States.  The  Whigs  of 
the  latter  chafed  under  these  demands,  and  a  new  or- 
ganization arose  from  the  wreck  of  that  party,  for  the 
present  Republican  party  sprang  spontaneously  out 
of  the  political  chaos  ;  drawing  to  itself  the  advanced 
men  of  the  Whigs,  and  many  of  the  Independent 
Democrats  who  would  thinh  for  themselves^  and 
refused  to  be  dragooned  into  voting  at  the  dictation 
of  the  Southern  wing.  These  gentlemen  from  the 
first  took  ground  against  the  extension  of  slavery 
into  the  territories,  and  Avere  known  as  the  "  Free 
Soil "  party.  They  finally  afliiliated  with  the  Re- 
publicans, and  with  them  remained  identified  in 
its  struggles  against  the  Southern  wing,  which  en- 
deavored to  found  a  confederacy  whose  "  chief 
corner-stone "  was  to  be  slavery.  They  aided  in 
putting  down  the  Rebellion;  in  preserving  the 
Union;  in  blotting  out  slavery;  and  in  placing  the 
Nation  in  a  position  in  Christendom  for  which  its 
people  need  never  blush. 

Let  us  consider  some  of  the  measures  of  public 
benefit  introduced  and  fostered  by  these  opponents 
of  Democracy,  while  obstructed  by  the  "  friends  of 
the  poor  man." 


XXIX. 
LAND   LAWS. 

The  Year  1863. — Xo  measure  in  respect  to  the 
public  lands  ever  passed  Congress  that  has  been  so 
fraught  with  blessings  to  the  "  poor  man,"  or  settler 
■with  limited  means,  as  the  Homestead  Law.  This 
law  went  into  effect  on  January  1,  1863 — that  year 
so  remarkable  in  our  annals — on  the  same  day 
slavery  was  abolished.  During  that  year  a  Repub- 
lican Congress  cheapened  postage  still  further,  to 
what  it  was  as  late  as  1883,  or  nearly  so,  and  in- 
augurated the  Xational  Banking  system ;  this  year 
was  also  noted  for  the  Union  victory  at  Gettysburg 
and  the  Union  capture  of  Vicksburg  and  of  Port 
Hudson — so  that  within  ten  days  (July  1-9)  the  Con- 
federacy lost  between  seventy  and  eighty  thousand 
men,  and  war  material  in  proportion. 

How  to  Get  a  Home. — Under  the  Homestead 
Law  a  settler  can  enter  160  acres  upon  any  unoccu- 
pied lands  of  the  L^nited  States,  by  paying  ten 
dollars  to  cover  incidental  expenses;  but  the  settler 
must  live  upon  the  land  thus  entered  and  cultivate 
it  for  five  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
receives  a  title  in  fee  for  the  land  thus  occupied. 
The  government  has  also  given  grants  of  alternate 


LAND  LAWS  183 

sections  of  land  to  aid  the  construction  of  railways 
through  the  territories,  and  in  some  of  the  new- 
States  where  there  may  be  public  lands.  In  the 
territories  the  grant  extends  Uoenty  miles  on  each 
side  of  the  road,  and  ten  miles  in  the  States.  With- 
in these  grants  the  Homestead  given  is  only  80 
acres,  because  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  railways  is 
rated  at  twice  the  value  of  that  outside  the  grant. 
The  result  is  the  Government  loses  nothing  by  its 
grants  to  railroads,  as  the  lands  within  them  are 
held  at  twice  the  price  of  those  outside.  Did  the 
statesmen  or  newspapers  who  opposed  this  benefi- 
cent measure  ever  publish  this  fact  ? 

These  Homesteads  can  be  obtained  by  the  head  of 
a  family,  male  or  female,  by  complying  with  the 
above  conditions.  The  same  regulations,  also,  apply 
to  foreigners  who  are  already  citizens,  or  have 
declared  their  intention  to  become  such. 

The  Timber  Culture  Act. — A  later  enactment 
likewise  enables  persons  as  heads  of  families  to 
secure  homesteads.  If  they  "plant,  protect,  and 
keep  in  a  healthy  growing  condition  for  eight  years., 
ten  acres  of  timber,  on  any  section  of  any  of  the 
public  lands  of  the  United  States,  they  shall  be  en- 
titled to  the  whole  of  such  quarter  section,"  or  160 
acres.  If  the  settler  plants  trees  on  five  acres.,  on 
the  same  condition,  he  receives  a  patent  for  80 
acres,  and  so  on  in  proportion.  Residence  on  these 
claims  is  not  required  by  the  Timber  Act.  This  act 
is  limited  in  its  operation  much  more  than  the 
Homestead,  as  it  applies  only  to  the  portions  of  the 


184  POLITIC  A  ].   PARTIES. 

public  lands  where  there  may  be  a  scarcity  of 
timber. 

It  shows  the  intention  of  the  statesmen  who 
enactotl  these  laws  to  encourage  the  settler  and  in- 
dustrious man,  that  they  made  the  homesteads 
obtained  under  both  of  them  exempt  from  seizure 
on  account  of  debt  or  debts  contracted  previous  to 
the  date  of  the  entry,  and  also  exempted  them  from 
taxation  until  after  a  title  in  fee  had  been  given  the 
settler. 

Blessings  Conferred  by  the  Homestead  Law. 
— Since  the  Homestead  Law  went  into  effect,  as 
shown  by  the  successive  reports  of  the  Secretaries 
of  the  Interior  for  twenty-eight  years,  to  July, 
1891,  there  have  been  taken  up  in  homesteads  by 
settlers  under  this  law,  141,006,400  acres,  or 
221,260  square  miles.  This  equals  in  area  the 
five  New  England  States,  the  Middle  States,  and 
the  State  of  Virginia  combined.  The  ordinary 
enumeration  of  the  areas  of  these  States  includes 
the  surface  of  their  lakes  and  rivers,  and  also  their 
shore  line  extending  three  miles  out,  altogether 
estimated  at  7,000  square  miles.  Deduct  this 
latter  area,  which  is  not  included  in  Homestead 
surveys,  and  we  have  the  amount  of  land  occupied 
by  free  farms. 

As  has  been  said,  the  Homesteads  outside  the 
railway  grants  contain  each  160  acres,  while  within 
the  grants  it  is  only  80.  The  government  averages 
the  amount  of  land  under  these  two  arrangements, 
belonging  to  Homesteads,  at  120  acres  each.     At 


LAND  LAWS.  185 

tliis  rate  the  number  of  homesteads  would  amount 
to  1,180,053,  while  at  the  average  rate  of  five  persons 
to  each,  the  population  thus  supplied  with  home 
comforts  amounts  to  5,900,265,  lacking  not  quite 
one  hundred  thousand  of  being  equal  the  popula- 
tion of  the  State  of  New  Yox-k  in  1890.  Already 
there  are  numerous  and  flourishing  villages  located 
on  lands  originally  taken  up  in  Homestead  grants. 
The  denser  population  in  these  villages  makes  the 
average  number  for  each  Homestead  in  the  Avhole 
area  occupied,  perhaps,  more  than  Jive  pei'sons. 
The  happiness  of  families  growing  up  as  citizens 
successful  in  life,  and  the  moulding  influence  they 
exert  on  the  Nation's  future,  are  not  to  be  reckoned 
in  dollars  and  cents,  but  in  the  wealth  and  growth 
of  great  communities  of  moral,  industrious  and  self- 
respecting  people.  These  results  are  well  worthy 
the  attention  of  the  political  economist,  and  of  the 
]>atriotic  statesman. 

Homesteads  are  located  all  over  the  new  States 
and  territories  ;  and  whole  settlements  have  grown 
up  and  become  prosperous,  and  no  doubt  will  thus 
continue,  for  it  is  a  fact  well  known,  that  the  great 
majority  of  those  who  settle  on  these  Homosteadn 
are  young  married  people.  They  are  also  enei-getio 
and  industrious,  and  determined  to  make  an  inde- 
pen  lent  living,  and  set  before  their  families  an 
example  that  will  tell  on  their  future  happiness  and 
success.  None  but  the  energetic  go  so  far  from 
their  native  homes  in  order  to  obtain  a  competency, 
and  their  habits  of  diligence  and  economy  will  cor- 


186  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

tinue  to  inrtueiice  for  good  future  generations  by 
means  of  their  children,  thus  jtrojierly  trained.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  many  thousands  who  have 
settled  alongside  the  occujiants  of  the  Homesteads 
on  lands  2)iirchased  from  the  railway  corj)orations 
or  the  government. 

School  Funds. — The  government  has  also  pro- 
vided the  funds  for  the  support  of  schools  in  all 
future  time,  if  they  are  properly  husbanded.  This 
fund  is  furnished  by  giving  the  first  and  the  thirty- 
sixth  sections  of  each  township  of  thirti/-six  square 
miles,  to  be  reserved  and  sold  when  the  territorv 
becomes  a  State,  and  the  proceeds  invested  for  the 
benefit  of  schools.  This  regulation  was  in  existence 
before  the  passage  of  the  Homestead  Law. 

How  Lands  Are  Given  to  Railways. — A  por- 
tion of  the  unoccupied  jjublic  lands,  of  course,  lie 
along  the  three  roiites  of  railways  across  the  continent 
The  National  government,  especially  since  the  Home- 
stead Bill  was  passed,  has  granted  lands  to  railways, 
in  order  to  aid  in  their  construction  through  the 
public  domain,  with  the  twofold  object  of  making 
these  lands  accessible,  and  of  extending  three  belts 
of  settlements  along  these  roads  across  the  conti- 
nent. These  grants  of  land  are  given  to  the  roads 
on  this  condition.  The  school  lands  are  first  re- 
served ;  then  of  the  remainder  the  odd  numbered 
sections  are  given  to  the  railway,  and  the  even  num- 
bered the  government  retains,  either  to  sell  or  to 
give  to  the  settler  in  Homesteads,  each  of  eighty 
acres.     The  land  within  these  railroad  grants,  when 


LAND  LAWS.  187 

sold  costs  $2.50  an  acre — double  the  price  demanded 
outside  the  grant.  In  theory  as  well  as  practice 
the  national  government  loses  nothing  by  these 
grants  to  the  railways,  as  it  sells  the  lands  retained 
for  as  much  as  the  whole  would  have  sold  for  at 
one-half  the  price. 

Under  the  present  system  these  lands  virtually 
build  the  roads,  as  the  funds  to  be  derived  from 
their  future  sale  form  a  basis  of  value,  which  become 
a  guarantee  for  the  remuneration  of  the  stock  and 
bondholders,  who  have  furnished  the  capital  for 
building  them.  The  benefits  are  immense  which 
these  roads  across  the  continent  have  already  con- 
ferred, and  will  confer,  upon  the  whole  country  ; 
they  are  peculiar  in  their  character,  inasmuch  as 
they  make  cheap  homes  accessible  to  multitudes  of 
families,  and  at  the  same  time  extend  three  belts  of 
settlements  toward  the  Pacific. 

Speculators. — Before  the  Homestead  Law  was 
passed,  speculators  were  accustomed  to  buy  up 
whole  counties  and  districts  of  the  best  public  lands. 
This  was  the  case,  especially,  in  the  States  of  Iowa, 
Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  where  the  settlers  in 
purchasing  farms  were  forced  to  pay  enormous 
profits  to  the  speculators.  This  extortion  retarded 
the  settlement  of  these  States  ;  though  thus  hin- 
dered at  first,  their  progress  was  the  marvel  of  the 
time ;  what  would  that  progress  and  settlement 
have  been  if  the  jieople  had  been  protected  by  a 
Homestead  Law? 

The  difficulty  in   Congress  was  that   the  slave- 


1S8  J'OUTICAL    rAHTlES. 

owners,  ooiistituting  tlic  landed  aristocracy  of  the 
South,  were  opposed  to  tlie  IVill,  because  it  opened 
the  way  for  small  farms.  As  slavery  could  not 
exist  except  on  large  estates,  they  were  "  solid " 
against  any  measure  that  would  distribute  the  public 
lands  in  limited  quantities  to  those  who  would  culti- 
vate them  by  means  of  their  own  labor.  Even  if 
the  lands  lay  in  a  latitude  or  a  climate  where  slavery 
could  not  exist,  theso  gentlemen  disliked  the  prece- 
dent^ and  seemed  unwilling  to  aid  any  measure, 
whose  influence  would  promote  the  interests  of  the 
"  poor  man,"  "  white  trash,"  or  "  mudsill,"  no  mat- 
ter in  what  section  he  lived.  We  infer  this  from 
their  votes  in  Congress  ;  witness  their  opposition  to 
cheap  postage,  to  this  Homestead  IJill,  and  to  the  fos- 
tering of  the  industries  of  the  entire  Union.  The 
Democratic  members  in  Congress  from  the  Free- 
Labor  States  almost  universally  voted  with  them  in 
respect  to  these  beneficent  measures. 

Opposition  to  the  Homestead  Law This  in- 
stance is  so  striking  that  it  deserves  further  notice. 
There  had  been  measures  adoj^ted  by  Congress  from 
time  to  time  in  respect  to  the  public  lands — but  this 
is  not  the  ])lace  to  go  into  detail.  It  may  be  said, 
however,  that  the  principle  of  free  homes  or  lands 
had  been  before  Congress  for  some  years,  but  the 
Democrats — South  and  North — always  voted  it 
down.  Meanwhile,  the  matter  was  more  or  less 
discussed,  especially  in  the  Free-Labor  States.  At 
length  an  amendment  was  offered  to  a  bill  (in  1859), 
which  embodied  the  princijile  of  free  homesteads. 


LAXD  LAWS.  189 

This  amendment  was  adopted  in  the  House  by  a 
vote  of  98  ;  every  Republican  and  13  Democrats 
voting  in  favor  of  it — the  negative  being  all  Demo- 
crats. But  when  the  Bill  with  this  amendment 
came  up  for  its  final  passage,  the  vote  stood  91  in 
favor  of  free  homes,  all  Republicans  ;  95  against  the 
principle,  all  Democrats.  The  latter,  who  changed 
their  votes  on  the  amendment,  were  from  the 
South  (Congressional  Globe,  p.  492,  et  seq.  for 
1859). 

In  the  session  of  1860-61,  the  Bill  was  brought 
up  again,  and  after  much  discussion,  finally,  by  a 
small  majority,  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress  ; 
nearly  all  the  Democrats  voting  against  it,  especially 
those  from  the  South,  while  upon  some  of  the  party 
from  the  Free-Labor  States,  public  opinion  among 
their  constituents  was  so  strong,  that  they  did  not 
follow  their  leaders,  but  voted  for  the  bill,  knowing, 
perhaps,  that  it  would  be  vetoed.  The  Republicans 
to  a  man  voted  for  the  beneficent  measure.  This 
Homestead  Bill  failed  to  become  a  law,  for,  sure 
enough,  James  Buchanan,  the  Democratic  President, 
on  the  last  day  of  his  presidential  term  (March  3, 
1861)  vetoed  it.  This  was  the  end,  after  a  strug- 
gle for  years — killed  by  the  special  "  fi-iends  of  the 
poor  man." 

Lands  for  Colleg-es. — Another  beneficial  meas- 
ure which,  after  much  labor  and  debate,  passed 
Congress,  had  been  already  vetoed  (Oct.  24,  1861) — 
the  bill  granting  waste  lands  in  aid  of  Agricultural 
Colleges.     Since  that  time  Congress  has  passed  the 


ll>0  POLITICAL    PA  li  TIL'S. 

I>ill,  :\ii(l    tlu'    :i(lv:iiit:it;t's  to  the  ciillc'gvs,  and   indi- 
rectly to  tlie  c^xmtrv,  have  been  large. 

Finally,  under  the  iiieoining  administration  of 
Abraham  JJneuln,  this  «ii/tie  Homestead  Bill  was 
passed  in  180*2,  and  went  into  effect  Jan.  1,  18G3. 
We  have  seen  that  the  good  effects  of  this  law  are 
almost  innumerable,  in  the  founding  of  Christianized 
communities  having  the  advantages  of  schools  and 
churches.  From  these  elements  spring  in(histry 
and  economy,  and  moral  influences  that  multiply 
themselves  through  all  coming  time.  These  settle- 
ments confer  great  benefits  upon  the  older  States; 
the  former  cultivate  the  soil  and  aid  by  their  pro- 
ducts in  furnishing  food  and  raw  material  to  those 
portions  of  the  country,  where,  in  ])roportion  to  the 
number  of  the  inhabitants,  there  is  less  land  under 
cultivation.  The  latter  are  more  generally  engaged 
in  manufacturing  interests,  because  of  the  greater 
amount  of  jjopulation  who  can  be  thus  employed. 
The  benefits  are  reciprocal ;  the  agricultural  sec- 
tions of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  have  become, 
and  will  continue  to  be,  the  future  storehouses  of 
food  for  the  older  portions  of  the  country.  These 
mutual  advantages  should  hold  us  together  as  a 
Nation. 

The  Advantages  of  the  Measure. — The  ad- 
vantages to  the  ])eople  themselves  of  having  these 
settlements,  on  this  vast  amount  of  once  waste  ter- 
ritory, are  far  beyond  the  value  arising  from  the  sale 
of  such  lands  paid  into  the  treasury  in  money  at  the 
rate  of  81.25  an  acre.     In  the  first  place,  the  sales 


LAND  LAWS.  191 

AvouUl  have  been  very  limited  in  comparison  with 
the  amount  of  territory  brought  under  cultivation 
by  means  of  the  Homestead  Bill.  But  these  are 
trivial  considei'ations  when  compared  with  the  bless- 
ings conferred  upon  the  tens  of  thousands  that  have 
thus  been  enabled  to  start  in  life  and  to  be  the 
ancestors  of  future  millions  of  industrious  citizens. 
These  lands  were  once  so  inaccessible,  that  there 
was  no  special  inducement  to  found  homes  upon 
them.  But  the  government's  jDolicy  of  aiding  to 
build  railways  through  the  public  lands  since  1863, 
has  made  these  vast  territories  available  for  the 
people's  use,  who  have  founded  on  them  large  com- 
munities, prosperous  and  happy.  If  the  Democratic 
leaders  had  had  their  way,  neither  these  settlements 
to  any  extent,  nor  the  railways  extending  across  the 
country  toward  the  Pacific,  would  have  been  in 
existence.  But  since  the  Homestead  Law  has,  for 
the  last  thirty  years,  pi'oved  and  been  recognized 
as  a  great  blessing  to  the  "poor  man,"  they  pro- 
claim that  all  grants  of  public  lands  in  aid  of  build- 
ing railways  must  cease ;  and  instead  these  lands 
must  be  given  to  the  "poor  man."  Every  intelli- 
gent American  that  has  kept  up  Avith  the  times, 
only  half-way,  knows  that  railways  thus  built  through 
the  public  domain  far  more  than  ])ay  the  market 
value  of  the  land  granted  them,  in  their  being  the 
occasion  and  cause  of  the  unprecedented  develop- 
ment of  communities  of  successful  and  industrious 
people  in  regions  useless  to  the  Nation,  because  of 
their  being  inaccessible.     How  could  it  be  possible 


102  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

for  the  ]>ro<luctions  of  these  tlistant  settlements  to 
reach  tlie  East,  were  it  not  for  the  raih'oads  ?  As 
for  the  huiJs  given  the  railways,  the  greater  part 
AvouM  not  have  been  sold  jierhaps  for  half  a  cen- 
tury ;  neither  would  there  have  been  so  vast  an 
immigration  from  continental  Europe  of  the  better 
class  of  farmers,  scarcely  one  of  whom  is  unable  to 
read  and  write — and  all  seem  to  be  industrious — 
had  it  not  been  for  the  free  gifts  of  lands  under 
the  Homestead  Law. 

True  statesmanship  does  not  limit  its  view  only 
to  a  few  years  or  Congresses,  but  to  the  future  de- 
velopment of  the  Xation,  which  is  limited  only  by 
time.  That  is  the  reason  why  those  who  advocated 
and  passed  the  Homestead  Law,  and  aided  the 
building  of  railways,  wished  to  put  in  train  great 
communities  to  develoj)  into  a  population — moral, 
educated  and  industrious.  When  a  people  have 
these  characteristics,  they,  from  choice,  improve  in 
refinement,  and  obey  the  law  instituted  by  a  higher 
authority  than  Congress — that  man  must  labor  for 
his  own  support.  It  may  take  a  score  or  more  of 
years  to  so  mould  youthful  communities,  in  order 
that  the  germs  of  intellectual  and  moral  progress 
may  bloom  in  future  generations. 

Mingling  of  the  Settlers. — It  ought  to  be  taken 
into  considerati(jn,  that  along  the  routes  of  these  rail- 
roads the  land  belonging  to  the  railway  companies 
themselves  are  sold  on  very  liberal  terms  to  settlers, 
the  pa}'ments  being  so  arranged  that  the  purchaser 
can  easily,  if  prudent  and  industrious,  pay  for  his 


LAND  LAWS.  193 

farm.  This  portion  of  the  settlers  are  as  energetic, 
industrious  and  moral,  as  those  located  on  Home- 
stead grants,  and  are  generally  better  off  in  respect 
to  wealth.  The  purchasers  of  railway  lands  mingle 
with  those  who  live  on  Homesteads  obtained  from 
the  government,  and  the  two  soon  become  able 
from  the  number  of  the  population  to  sustain  schools 
and  churches.  These  communities  will  continue  to 
cultivate  and  improve  the  soil,  and  send  to  the  East 
their  products,  in  the  form  of  food,  such  as  grains, 
cattle  and  sheep,  also  metals,  gold  and  silver,  re- 
ceiving in  return  what  they  may  need  of  manufac- 
tured articles. 

One  Dollar  and  a  Quarter  Per  Acre. — The 
leaders  of  the  Democracy  in  Congress,  who  opposed 
the  Homestead  Law,  for  the  most  part  based  their 
opposition  upon  the  loss  of  the  comparatively  trifling 
amount  of  money  paid  into  the  treasury  from  the 
sales  of  the  public  lands.  They  appeared  unable 
to  comprehend  the  immense  advantage  accruing  to 
the  Nation  at  large,  by  opening  the  unoccupied  lands 
of  the  public  domain,  to  moral  and  industrious, 
and  happy  communities.  They  ignored  the  principle 
that  the  people  constitute  the  State.  On  the  contrary, 
the  advocates  of  the  bill  did  not  refuse  to  recognize 
the  benefits  that  might  accrue  to  the  National 
Treasury  from  the  sale  of  these  lands,  but  contended 
that  from  the  sales  being  so  limited,  these  benefits 
would  be  very  small  when  compared  with  the  bless- 
ings that  would  be  conferred  upon  hundreds  of 
thousands  of   vouncf  American  farmers,  who  were 


l'J4  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

uii:iltlo  to  Imy  tlu'su  lands  niul  also  stock  tlioir  faiins, 
lint  iniLrlit  1)0  able*  to  do  the  latter,  and  occupy  and 
cullivatc  thcMu  and  found  homes  for  their  families. 
I  low  inlinitely  better  for  tliese  young  farmers  to 
thus  settle  in  new  States  and  Territories,  than  to 
have  remained  in  the  old  ones,  to  eke  out  a  dis- 
couraged existence  !  But  with  this  humane  feature 
of  the  Homestead  Bill — the  aiding  of  poor  men  by 
giving  them  a  chance  in  the  world — these  leaders 
gave  no  sym])athy,  but  ridiculed  the  idea  as  the  off- 
spring of  a  "  morbid  sentiment."  To  them  it 
would  seem  the  all-important  consideration  was — 
one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  an  acre!  Imbued 
with  this  dollar  and  cent  theory,  they  also  seemed 
unable  to  take  into  account  the  advantages  conferred 
on  our  working  people  by  having  plenty  of  employ- 
ment at  fair  wages  in  our  factories  ;  the  comfort 
and  happiness  of  those  thus  employed  w^as  over- 
shadowed by  the  extra  dollars  and  cents  they  ex- 
pected the  United  States  Treasury  would  gain  by 
putting  our  mechanical  industries  in  competition 
with  the  low  wages  paid  abroad. 

Absence  of  Humane  Sentiments. — It  has  been 
charged  that  in  the  platforms  issued  from  the  Demo- 
cratic Conventions — State  or  National — there  is 
an  absence  of  humane  sentiments,  unless  it  may  be, 
occasionally,  "  glittering  generalities"  in  respect  to 
"poor  Ireland;"  that  previous  to  18G1  there  is 
found  in  these  manifestoes  no  special  recognition  of 
genuine  civil  liberty,  but,  on  the  contrary,  much  to 
encouraofe  the  advocates  of  human  bondage.     The 


LAXD  LAWS.  195 

question  has  also  been  asked,  where  in  our  history- 
is  the  instance  recorded,  in  which  these  leaders 
originated  measures  in  Congress  humane  in  their 
characteristics,  and  which  were  calcidated  to  confer 
great  and  lasting  benefits  upon  the  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple, or  when  did  they  not  oppose  such  measures 
when  introduced  by  others  ? 


[Since  the  above  charges  are  so  serious,  we  leave 
this  blank  that  we  may  be  able  to  insert  authenticated 
examples  of  their  refutation  when  found?^ 


Benefits  Recognized,  Transportation  of  Pro- 
ducts— It  is  now  become  evident  that  railroads 
have  been  essentially  necessary  in  order  to  develop 
the  public  lands,  by  inducing  farmers  to  settle  upon 
them,  either  on  Homesteads  or  on  farms  purchased 
from  the  government  or  from  the  railway  companies. 
Our  policy  as  a  nation,  is  not  to  have  vast  landed 
estates  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  as  in  England,  and 
as  was  attempted  in  the  late  Slave-holding  States, 


li>(>  ro/.ITICAl.    r  ART  IKS. 

mill,  coiiscMpu'iitly,  vi'i-y  largo  landed  estates  Avill 
jiever  be  possible  to  much  extent  in  regions  where 
the  lloinostead  law  originally  prevailed.  Such 
with  us  do  not  remain  unbroken,  as  a  rule,  beyond 
the  second  or  third  generation,  as  we  have  no  laws 
as  in  England,  by  Avhioh  land  is  entailed  for  the 
heir. 

After  opposing  as  long  as  they  could  the  giving 
of  public  lands  to  those  who  were  unable  to  pur- 
chase them,  the  Democratic  leaders  now  declare 
most  zealously,  they  are  unwilling  that  an  acre  of 
these  lands  should  be  diverted  from  the  landless, 
and  given  to  soulless  corporations  for  building  rail- 
ways. The  true  plan,  as  the  result  ])roves,  has  been 
to  blend  the  two  systems  in  founding  settlements 
upon  the  public  domain  by  means  of  the  Homestead 
law,  and  by  grants  of  land  to  aid  in  constructing 
railroads,  in  order  to  render  these  lands  accessible. 
Had  the  making  of  these  railways  been  postponed 
till  the  country  was  occupied  by  farms  purchased 
from  speculators  or  even  from  the  government 
itself,  and  then  built  by  unaided  private  enterprise, 
this  century  would  scarcely  have  seen  one  of  them 
finished,  and  to-day  we  have  three  extending  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,  and  in  addition  are  seven 
connecting  branch  roads.  When  all  along  these  three 
routes  settlements  shall  have  been  founded,  perhaps 
ranging  from  twenty  to  forty  miles  wide,  then  will 
private  capital  still  further  build  cross  roads,  run- 
ning north  and  south,  as  the  case  may  be,  uniting 
these  settled  districts. 


LAND  LAWS.  197 

These  roads  so  speedily  built,  and  these  settle- 
ments so  rapidly  founded, — the  latter  in  consequence 
of  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  roads — have  had 
almost  from  the  start,  many  of  the  comforts  enjoyed 
in  the  States.  This  pi-ogress  is  one  of  the  marvels  of 
the  age.  These  farms — originally  Homesteads — and 
others  Avithin  the  railroad  grants,  are  to-day  furnish- 
ing much  of  the  grain  and  other  suj^plies  of  food  to 
the  Middle  and  the  Eastern  States,  while  the  surplus 
is  carried  to  the  sea-board  and  shipped  to  Europe. 
Could  the  Territory  of  Dakota  have  astonished  the 
world  by  sending  annually  so  many  million  bushels 
of  Avheat  to  the  Eastern  markets  within  the  last 
year  or  two,  if  the  Northern  Pacific  railway  had  not 
penetrated  its  borders  ?  Had  it  not  been  for  that 
road,  or  the  prospect  of  its  being  built,  there  would 
instead  have  been  scarcely  a  settlement  within  her 
boundaries. 

The  grants  of  land  to  the  railroads  across  the  con- 
tinent have  secured  their  completion,  and  thus 
paved  the  way  for  these  belts  of  settlements  along 
their  lines  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific.  Now 
it  is  thought  by  the  political  organization  which 
originated  and  carried  out  this  combined  system — 
of  giving  Homesteads  to  settlers  and  grants  of  land 
to  railways — that  the  cross  roads,  hereafter,  uniting 
these  three  belts,  can  be  built  as  needed  by  private 
snterprise  and  without  aid  from  the  National 
government,  and  therefore  they  propose  to  reserve 
its  remaining  lands  for  the  landless,  saying  that 
"  no  further  grants  of  the  public  domain  should  be 


19S  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

mado  to  niiy  railway  or  corjjoration,"  {Platform — Re- 
ptthlican — etc.,  adopted  at  Chicago — June  4,  1880). 
This  comes  with  a  good  grace  from  the  organization 
that  has  accomplished  so  much  for  the  people  by 
giving  them  homesteads,  and  making  their  numer- 
ous settlements  accessible  by  railways,  built  by 
funds  derived  from  the  sale  of  lands  hitherto  waste. 
Yet,  after  all,  Avhat  is  the  objection,  if  the  govern- 
ment continues  to  lose  nothing  by  giving  lands  under 
the  usual  conditions  to  aid  in  building  railways  ? 


XXX. 

NATIONAL  BANKS. 

Financial  Security. — Relief  in  the  management 
of  financial  affairs  came  to  the  people  on  Jan.  1, 
1863,  when  the  present  National  Banking  system 
was  introduced  by  the  Republican  Party,  and  for 
thirty  years  it  has  truly  been  what  its  name  im- 
plies. By  recent  enactment  of  Congress  the  system 
is  to  be  continued.  In  contrast  with  the  former 
miscellaneous  and  irresponsible  banking — incorpor- 
ated and  jirivate — within  the  States,  the  notes  of 
the  National  Banks  are  at  par  all  over  the  Union, 
and  they  are  so  on  their  own  merits ;  being  secured 
by  United  States  bonds  held  on  deposit  at  the 
Treasury  at  Washington  for  that  purjDOse,  they  are 
worth  everywhere  in  the  land  their  face  in  gold.  The 
United  States  Treasury  stands  guard  that  these 
banks  shall  not  over-issue,  as  such  institutions  fre- 
quently did  under  the  comparatively  irresponsible 
systems  of  former  days,  when  great  numbers  of 
them  often  failed  and  defrauded  the  public. 

The  law  permits  only  nine-tenths  of  the  capital — 
all  of  which  must  be  paid  in — to  be  issued  in  the  form 
of  notes,  and  to  prevent  fraud  the  Treasury  De- 
partment itself  prints  and  issues  these  notes  in  due 


200  POLITICAL   PARTIES 

form,  and  keeps  an  account  of  tlio  sanio  with  each 
1iank,  and  in  a<ldition  liolds  in  its  vaults  the  bonds 
representing  the  entire  capital  of  the  bank  in  order 
to  secure  the  Iiohlers  of  its  notes  in  case  of  failure 
or  of  winding  up.  The  IT.  S.  Treasury  thus  stands 
as  a  responsible  receiver  to  pay  on  demand  every 
note  issued  by  any  National  Bank.  The  excellence 
of  this  system  has  attracted  the  attention  of  finan- 
ciers abroad.  Says  the  London  Times — by  no  means 
an  admirer  of  our  affairs  or  policy — "  The  genius  of 
man  has  never  invented  a  better  system  of  finance 
than  the  National  banking  system  of  the  United 
States." 

No  Monopoly — These  banks,  from  the  nature  of 
their  constitution,  cannot  become  a  monopoly,  as 
has  been  charged  by  their  opponents,  because  they 
are  organized  under  a  general  law,  of  which  any 
who  choose  can  avail  themselves.  If  Jive  perso?}s 
think  proper  they  can  comply  with  the  conditions, 
and  establish  a  bank.  If  they  find  there  is  not 
sufficient  business  in  their  vicinity  to  warrant  the 
enterpi-ise,  or  make  their  investments  pay,  they  can 
take  the  legal  measures,  and  "  wind  up  their  bank," 
lift  the  notes  they  have  issued,  and  withdraw  their 
pledged  bonds  lying  in  the  United  States  Treasury, 
and  no  one  can  possibly  lose  a  dollar.  There  can 
be  under  this  system  no  more  monopoly  than  there 
is  in  farming  or  sailing  on  the  ocean ;  it  is  only 
requisite  to  have  control  of  a  farm  or  of  a  ship. 

The  great  numbers  who  can  avail  themselves  of 
the  advantages  afforded  by  these  banks  preclude? 


XATIOXAL  BANKS.  201 

another  feature  of  a  monopoly.  Frequently  a  large 
share  of  the  stock  in  these  institutions  is  held  in 
trust  by  trustees  for  minors,  and  charitable  institu- 
tions. In  the  main,  it  is  estimated  that  one-third 
of  their  stock  is  thus  held  by  women  and  trustees. 
Not  one  laboring  man  or  woman  or  boy  or  girl,  has 
ever  lost  a  dollar  of  their  earning  by  taking  in  pay- 
ment a  note  of  a  National  Bank.  Banks  are  mer- 
cantile agents  for  facilitating  the  exchange  of  prod- 
ucts ;  an  outgrowth  of  the  best  industrial  and  social 
development,  and  in  consequence  the  business  in- 
terests of  the  community  are  deeply  interested  in 
their  existence  and  management. 

In  the  future  when  our  national  debt  may  bo 
paid,  leaving  no  United  States  bonds  u})on  which 
to  base  the  security  of  the  banks,  other  measures 
must  be  devised  to  keep  them  National  as  they  are 
now,  as  well  as  to  make  them  equally  secure.  It 
will  be  essential  that  the  notes  of  these  future  Na- 
tional Banks  should  be  kept  at  par  throughout  the 
Union  and  be  received,  at  all  times,  by  each  other. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Treasiuy,  as  at  present, 
should  supervise  the  issue  of  their  notes  in  order  to 
prevent  fraud  ;  having  the  different  denominations 
engraved  and  stamped  distinctly,  and  properly  au- 
thenticated before  being  issued.  This  arrangement, 
with  proper  liability  of  the  stockholders  and  officers, 
ought  to  secure  the  confidence  of  the  public.  In 
lieu  of  the  commercial  benefits  conferred  by  these 
banks  upon  the  people,  their  stock  should  be  exempt 
from  taxation,  since  they  derive  no  income  from  it, 


202  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

exeo])t  tliat  from  the  portion  issued  in  notes.  The 
future  will  t:ike  care  of  itself;  but  for  the  benefit 
of  the  commercial  interests  of  the  whole  ])eoi)le,  the 
National  characteristics  of  these  future  banks 
should  be  ever  preserved. 

Inflation  and  Contraction.— As  to  the  amount 
of  notes  issued,  it  must  be  sufficient,  and  no  more,  to 
supply  the  needs  of  trade — if  more,  it  becomes 
inflation,  if  less,  it  becomes  contraction,  both  of 
which  are  financially  injurious.  The  National 
banking  law  makes  these  extremes  self-adjusting. 
If  a  bank  is  needed  at  a  certain  center,  capitalists 
are  quick  to  see  it,  and  they  will  organize  one  ;  and 
if  there  is  too  much  money  afloat  in  proportion  to 
the  business  carried  on,  they  will  as  quickly  see 
that,  and  act  accordingly — either  moderate  the  issue 
of  their  notes  or  discontinue  their  bank.  The  peo- 
ple themselves  in  their  representative  men,  as  intelli- 
gent farmers,  manufacturers,  merchants  and  bankers 
are  the  best  judges  of  the  w\ants  of  the  business  of 
the  countiy,  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  money 
necessary  to  carry  it  on.  Now  the  amount  to  be 
issued  is  regulated  by  an  unwritten  but  infallible 
law,  which  the  wants  of  the  commercial  community 
dictate.  This  is  infinitely  more  practical,  and  more 
in  accordance  with  common  sense,  than  it  would  be 
for  Congress  to  determine  by  law  how  much  money 
is  neccessary  for  that  purpose.  That  power,  should 
it  be  entrusted  to  Congress,  would  be  Centralization 
in  its  worst  form — this  feature  is  opposed  by  the 
Republican  party,  and  is  indirectly  encouraged  by 


NATIONAL  BANES.  203 

the  Democratic ;  yet  the  latter  in  some  resolutions 
found  in  their  platforms  cry  out  lustily  against 
such  power  being  lodged  in  the  National  Govern- 
m'^nt,  and  in  others  seem  to  sympathize  with  the 
Gieenbackers  or  Inflationists,  who  proclaim  their 
intention  to  destroy  the  conservative  system  of 
National  Banks,  and  instead  authorize  the  central 
government  at  "Washington  to  issue  notes  to  any  ex- 
tent. In  accordance  with  this  theory,  Congress 
could  expand  or  contract  the  currency  to  suit  the 
political  interests  of  the  party  that  happened  to  be 
in  power ;  thus  continually  interfering,  directly  or 
indirectly,  with  the  legitimate  business  of  the  whole 
Nation.  In  times  past,  the  '■'■  icildrcat''''  schemes  of 
issuing  money  in  the  form  of  notes  were  highly 
conservative  in  comparison  with  the  visionary  ones 
under  consideration. 

The  details  of  finance  we  cannot  here  enter  upon, 
but  merely  note  the  National  Banking  System  as  one 
of  the  public  benefits  created  and  fostered  by  the 
Republican  and  vehemently  opposed  by  the  Demo- 
cratic party — which  almost  succeeded  during  the 
late  Congress  in  compassing  its  end. 


XXXI. 

EVILS   OF  PARTISANSHIP. 

City  and  Country  Democracy. — There  is  now 
quite  a  ilifference  between  the  views  and  character- 
istics of  the  country  and  the  city  Democracy  ;  yet 
in  the  rural  districts,  numbers  are  of  the  party 
because  of  their  traditions.  Their  fathers  having 
been  Democrats  of  the  old  school,  while  they  them- 
selves grew  up  in  the  ranks,  and  when  becoming  of 
age  voted  as  their  fathers  had  done,  and,  asking  no 
questions,  continued  to  jog  along,  indifferent  and 
almost  neutral  as  to  M'hat  was  going  on  outside 
their  own  immediate  neighborhoods.  At  first  the 
change  began  when  multitudes  of  rural  Democrats 
waked  vp — from  nullification  times  onward — under 
the  influence  of  the  persistent  and  spirited  discus- 
sions on  the  subject  of  slavery;  for  lectures  on  that 
theme,  and  pam])hlets  .ind  newspapers,  invaded  the 
hitherto  (juiet  country  neighborhoods,  and  thousands 
of  these  native-born  sturdy  Democrats  threw  off 
their  indifference  to  national  questions,  and  began 
to  realize  that  the  political  party  to  w^hich  they  had 
fallen  heirs  was  under  the  control  of  the  astute 
leaders  of  the  Southern  wing,  and  that  the  whole 
organization  was  committed  to  their  interests.  Hav- 
ing more  vividly  realized  this  fact  during  the  discus 


EVILS  OF  PARTISAXSIIIF.  '205 

sions  preceding  the  annexation  of  Texas,  they  after- 
ward threw  aside  the  shackles  of  tradition  and 
became  out-and-out  opposed  to  the  slave-power. 

Again,  when  to-day  the  accusation  is  made  that 
in  the  cities  the  leaders  of  the  Democracy  are  the 
main  supporters  of  the  Liquor  Interest,  and  of  the 
evils  which  naturally  grow  out  of  the  traffic,  and 
also  that  thereby  thousands  upon  thousands  of  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  party  are  terribly  corrupted, 
the  rural  Democrat  is  indignant  at  the  charge.  He 
looks  round  upon  his  neighbors  of  the  same  politi- 
cal faith,  and  who  are  as  temperate  as  himself,  and  he 
feels  assured  these  charges  must  be  untrue.  He 
knows,  for  the  most  part,  absolutely  nothing  con- 
cerning the  disorderly  elements — principally  for- 
eigners and  their  direct  descendants — in  the  cities 
and  large  towns  and  along  the  railways,  that  consti- 
tute the  main  portion  of  the  party's  unwavering  ad- 
herents, and  who  are  completely  under  the  influence 
of  political  leaders. 

The  rural  Democrat  is  often  an  opponent  of  in- 
temperance and  of  the  liquor  interest ;  he  himself  is 
temperate  and  sometimes  even  a  prohibitionist,  and 
he  frequently  finds  his  Democi'atic  neighbors  hold- 
ing similar  views.  Thus,  when  statements  are  made 
that  in  the  cities,  perhaps,  ninety-nine  hundredths 
of  the  liquor-dealers,  gamblers,  and  keepers  of 
gambling  saloons  are  invariably  supj)orters  of  his 
traditional  party,  he  very  naturally  discredits  the 
charges.  In  addition,  his  trusted  county  paper 
assures  him  these  statements  are  falsehoods,  and 


L>Ot>  rol.lTK'AL    I'ARTIKS. 

backs  uj)  its  arnunu'iit  with  editurials  and  a  multi- 
tutk'  of  garbled  extracts. 

Issues  of  Past  and  Present.— The  reason  that  the 
orix^iiii/atioii  has  survived  its  great  mistake  of  1800- 
1801  is  not  because  its  principles  have  in  themselves 
a  vital  and  intrinsic  merit.  On  the  contrary  the 
issues  which  it  has  since  brought  to  the  front,  have 
been  only  in  direct  or  indirect  opposition  to 
measures  proposed  by  the  party  in  control  of  the 
National  government ;  which  measures,  having  been 
put  in  force,  have  been  sanctioned  by  the  people 
because  of  their  influence  in  promoting  the  onward 
progress  of  the  nation.  In  the  previous  period, 
down  to  March  4,  1861,  the  spirit  that  labored  for 
the  preservation  and  extension  of  slavery,  was  the 
great  stimulator  of  the  party's  measures  and  gave  it 
life ;  though  John  C  Calhoun  irreverently  said  it 
was  held  together  by  the  "  cohesive  power  of  ])ublic 
plunder."  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  evident  that  the 
main  element  that  supported  the  organization  be- 
fore the  rebellion  was  the  slave-holding  interest, 
with  which  the  Northern  wing  sympathized,  and  as 
the  slave  interest  was  a  unit  on  that  question  when 
it  was  at  issue,  the  party  was  sure  to  win  in 
elections.  On  the  score  of  apology,  it  is  said  that 
these  measures  and  mistakes  are  of  the  past,  and 
that  they  should  not  be  charged  upon  the  Democ- 
racy of  to-day ;  but  they  belong  to  the  history  of 
the  party,  and  as  such  should  be  noticed.  The 
next  question  is  :  What  are  the  issues — ^^^hat  is  the 
stimulus  of  the  Democratic  Party  to-day?    Is   it 


EVILS  OF  PARTISANSIIIP  207 

anything  else  than  party  opposition  to  the  Republi- 
cans for  the  mere  sake  of  opposition  ? 

The  Tweed  Ring-.— It  is  one  of  the  strange  prob- 
lems  of  politics,  so  called,  that  we  sometimes  find 
even  intelligent  men  voting  against  their  own 
interests  as  citizens,  especially  of  municipalities. 
This  frequently  occurs  from  an  indefinable  senti- 
ment of  partisanship  ;  a  desire  that  the  ]>arty — right 
or  wrong — with  which  they  have  hitherto  acted 
should  be  successful.  This  is  an  unwise  and  wrong 
principle  that  may  not  be  limited  to  one  political 
organization  alone.  As  a  striking  instance  of  this 
sort  of  partisanship  may  be  cited  the  famous 
"  Tweed  Ring  "  of  New  York  City.  The  persons 
composing  this  "Ring" — a  set  of  low  fellows — ■ 
swindled  the  citizens  of  the  city  for  about  three 
years.  The  members  appropriated  absolutely  to 
their  own  use,  it  is  carefully  estimated,  not  less  than 
$13,000,000,  very  little  of  which  the  city  ever 
recovered  by  legal  process;  meanwhile  these  wor- 
thies for  the  most  part  fled  the  country.  In 
addition,  in  consequence  of  the  "  Ring's  "  extrava- 
gant schemes,  under  the  guise  of  improving  the 
city,  they  left  its  taxpayers  to  meet  an  extra  debt  of 
nearly  1100,000,000,  Yet  after  these  enormous 
swindles  were  so  thoroughly  unmasked  by  the  JVew 
York  Times  as  to  convince  every  intelligent  voter 
of  the  truth  of  the  exposure,  Tweed  himself  was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate  by  ten  thousand  major- 
ity of  Democratic  votes.  This  famous  "Ring," 
whose  rascalities  have  become  proverbial  the  Union 


•JiiS  POLITIC  A  I.   rAUTIh'S. 

»>vor,  was  t'K'i'tt'tl  and  kept  in  otticc  by  ll.a  votes  of 
rcspiH'tahlo  Democrats.  If  that  class  had  joined 
with  other  respectable  voters,  with  no  reference  to 
National ])olitics,  but  only  to  municipal  affairs,  the 
Tweed  llinix  would  never  have  had  an  existence, 
much  less  have  stolen  more  from  the  city  than  has 
been  taken  fraudulently  from  the  United  States 
Treasury  since  the  days  of  the  numerous  defaulters 
in  Van  Karen's  administration.  The  city  is  still 
reaping  the  fruits  of  such  fatuity  in  the  debt  under 
wiruh  it  labors.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  cities 
throughout  the  land  have  suffered  very  much  from 
this  form  of  partisans]iip,  that  is,  in  ))utting  into 
offii'C  men  of  doubtful  character  and  dishonest 
<leeds,  only  because  they  were  partisans.  There  are 
large  numbers  in  the  cities  who  live  by  catering  to 
the  vices  of  men  ;  these  and  their  adherents  cling 
to  the  political  organization  that  most  favors  their 
interests. 

How  Countenanced. —  The  members  of  this 
"  King " — except,  it  is  said,  one  or  two — were 
Democrats,  and  were  countenanced  and  kept  in 
office  by  the  party's  voters ;  not  only  by  the  votes 
of  the  lower  orders,  such  as  liquor-sellers  of  every 
grade,  as  well  as  nearly  all  their  patronizers,  gam- 
blers and  keepers  of  gambling  dens  and  the  haunts 
of  the  vicious  of  both  sexes,  but  also,  strange  to 
say,  by  worthy  Democratic  citizens.  These  state- 
ments seem  severe,  but  their  severity  arises  from 
tlie  fact  that  they  are  notoriously  true.  These 
respectable  gentlemen  did   not  associate   with,  nor 


EVILS  OF  PARTISAN^'^niP.  209 

invite  socially  to  their  homes,  the  members  of  this 
"  Ring,"  yet  for  no  higher  motive  than  to  keep  the 
])arty  intact,  they  would  vote  for  them  to  fill  muni- 
cipal offices.  The  men  thus  entrusted  with  the 
management  of  the  city's  affairs  frequently  ap- 
pointed their  friends  and  retainers  to  bogus  offices  ; 
the  latter  drawing  money  from  the  treasury  under 
the  pretense  of  pay.  These  gentry  would  dress 
themselves  as  laborers,  and  step  up  to  the  office, 
and,  under  an  assumed  name,  draw  j)ay  as  if 
for  work  done.  At  one  time,  thus  elected  by 
respectable  Democratic  voters,  every  prominent 
office  in  the  city  of  New  York,  except  that  of 
mayor,  was  held  by  a  son  of  the  Emerald  Isle. 
This  never  could  have  been  the  case  if  these  "  re- 
spectables" had,  united  with  others,  voted  as 
citizens  of  the  city  and  not  as  members  of  a  ])oliti- 
cal  organization. 

At  this  writing,  owing  to  some  striking  ex- 
posures in  the  JVeio  l^ork  Tribune^  there  is  going 
on  in  the  city  of  New  York,  a  series  of  investiga- 
tions in  respect  to  the  management  of  certain 
departments  of  the  city's  affairs.  The  results  of  the 
investigation  recall  to  the  taxpayer's  memory  the 
bad  old  days  of  the  Tweed  Ring.  Will  respectable 
citizens  of  both  ])olitical  organizations  reflect  that 
the  occasion  for  such  exposure  and  investigation 
was  brought  al)out  by  partisanshi])  in  National 
politics  influencing  municipal  elections? 

There  is  no  reason  nor  common  sense  in  intro- 
ducinq;   uurelv  National   Questions    into    municipal 


lMO  political  parties. 

ek'ctions;  woiv  it  not  for  tliis,  our  cities  and  large 
towns  wouUl  be  better  governed,  taxes  lowered,  less 
defrauding,  less  crime  and  more  surety  of  its  pun- 
ishnu-nt.  Those  who  are  themselves  in  favor  of 
good  and  pure  morals  could  to  a  great  extent 
neutralize  the  votes  and  influence  of  bad  men  were 
it  not  for  the  ])artisanship  kept  up  by  designing 
politicians.  This  extreme  party  spirit  is  injurious 
in  its  moral  aspect,  and  every  honest  and  intelligent 
j)atriot  ought  to  be  superior  to  it.  But  as  nine- 
tenths  of  those  who  corrupt  the  morals  of  the  com- 
munity vote  one  way,  it  does  seem  strange  that 
respectable  gentlemen  should  consent  to  being 
placed  in  a  jjosition  where  they  are  liable  to  be 
pointed  out  as  giving  some  sort  of  respectability  to 
these  roughs  and  their  associates.  But  if  worthy 
men  indirectly  aid  these  parties  by  voting  for  their 
candidates — asking  no  questions  as  to  their  character 
— they  have  their  reward  in  the  satisfaction  that 
their  i)arty  in  politics  has  succeeded,  though  the 
officers  elected  have  been  the  nominees  of  caucuses, 
composed  of  a  class  of  men  whom  they  despise. 

Figure  Heads. — Why  upright  citizens.  Christian 
men  even,  should  be  so  trammeled  by  l)arty  ties,  is 
indeed  a  marvel,  and  difficult  to  explain.  How 
often,  especially  in  cities,  tickets  are  nominated  for 
purely  local  offices,  when  it  is  essential  to  have 
honest  men,  yet  the  voters  apparently  are  not 
governed  by  that  consideration,  but  on  the  contrary 
it  would  seem  by  that  of  ])reserving  intact  the  party 
prestige.     These  leaders  are  wise  in  their  tactics ; 


EVILS  OF  PA liTISA  NSHIP.  211 

they  keei^Jiffure  heads  of  respectability  before  the 
public,  and  compel  the  good  citizens  thus  placed  to 
do  their  bidding.  Nearly  all  the  unenlightened  in 
the  Northern  States  are  within  the  ranks  of  the 
Democracy,  and  this  class  clings  to  the  party 
organization.  No  amount  of  reasoning  can  reach 
them ;  their  very  lack  of  knowledge  precludes  their 
being  convinced,  as  they  have  not  the  intelligence 
that  is  requisite  in  order  to  examine  the  bearings  of 
the  political  questions  that  often  arise.  The  strong 
fortress  of  the  party  is  in  the  votes  of  the  many 
persons  of  foreign  birth  and  their  direct  descend- 
ants, who  follow  implicitly  the  dictation  of  jtheir 
leaders.  No  matter  whom  the  caucus  nominates  or 
what  principles  it  professes  to  advocate,  they  never 
on  election  day  swerve  from  the  ticket.  It  is  the 
misfortune  of  these  men  if  they  know  no  better ; 
but  their  crime  if  they  are  the  willing  tools  of 
designing  demagogues. 

Spurious  Civil  Liberty.— It  is  a  disgrace  to  any 
man  of  our  day  not  to  vote  somewhat  intelligently 
when  he  has  so  many  opportunities  to  inform  him- 
self on  political  questions  that  may  arise,  be  they 
local  or  national.  Nearly  all — much  more  than 
is  thought  by  non-observers — of  the  disorderly  ele- 
ments of  the  Nation  are  found  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Democracy.  Let  the  intelligent  reader  examine 
the  truth  of  this  statement  for  himself,  taking  his 
own  neighborhood  as  the  field  for  his  investigation, 
especially  if  it  is  a  city  or  large  town,  and  he  will 
learn   that  this  assertion   in  the  main   is   correct. 


i>l2  roi.irnwL  rAirrjEx. 

WluTo  l)(.'K>ii'jj  |n>lilii";illv  iht'  ki'(.'|j«.'rs  of  (hinkliij; 
saloons  of  various  grades  as  well  as  the  great  ma- 
jority of  those  who  patronize  them?  And  where  the 
men  of  violenee  wlio  take  the  law  into  their  own 
hands  and  to  seeure  thoir  ends  engage  in  riots? — • 
How  many  "Molly  Maguires  "  were  not  of  this 
party?  These  faets  are  undeniable  as  illustrated  in 
onr  eities,  and  no  less  notorious  in  the  eountry, 
though  not  met  with  so  often.  Let  a  question  of 
morals  eome  up  in  a  rural  district  or  village,  be 
it  concerning  temperance  or  Sabbath  desecration,  and 
you  will  find  for  the  most  part  the  Democracy  tak- 
ing sides  against  that  2)hase  of  the  question.  They 
do  this  under  the  plea  of  being  the  advocates  of  the 
greatest  liberty  of  the  individual ;  this  means  that 
the  rights  of  the  community  must  be  held  subordi- 
nate to  that  theory  of  the  rights  of  the  individual.  At 
one  time,  under  the  plea  that  the  "  world  was  gov- 
erned too  much,"  "  the  proposition  to  introduce  po- 
lice into  cities  was  resented  [by  the  Democracy]  as  an 
assault  upon  liberty  "  (Sumner's,  Life  of  Jackson^  p. 
365).  The  practical  working  of  this  fallacious  theory 
of  liberty  is,  that  if  any  one  wishes  to  make  his  living 
by  selling  intoxicating  drinks,  by  all  means  permit 
him,  it  is  his  right ;  if  he  spends  the  Sabbath — the 
legal  day  of  rest  and  quietness — in  a  boisterous  and 
rowdy  manner,  it  is  only  the  exercise  of  this  civil 
liberty.  The  number  of  drunkards  he  makes  or  the 
families  he  ruins,  or  the  peojjle  he  disturbs  in  their 
worship,  are  only  of  secondary  consideration,  in 
comparison  with  this  interpretation  of  the  citizen's 


EVILS  OF  PARTISANSHIP.  213 

individual  liliorty.  The  leaders  ])roclaim  themselves 
f)))posed  to  "  Snm]ituary  laws;  "  that  unusual  word 
has  the  desired  effect  in  making  "  the  rank  and  file  " 
opponents  to  temperance  movements  or  any  meas- 
ures calculated  and  designed  to  promote  the  public 
good  by  restraining  the  vicious. 

Responsibility  of  Voters. — It  is  time  intelligent 
voters  had  a  more  exalted  conception  of  their  re- 
sj)onsibility ;  even  Christian  citizens  sometimes  ex- 
hibit to  outsiders  a  singular  and  inconsistent  feature 
of  our  politics.  They  will  sometimes  join,  we  hope 
thoughtlessly,  with  the  corrupters  of  society,  such 
as  liquor-sellers  and  gamblers  of  every  class,  in 
their  votes  on  questions  of  doubtful  propriety,  only 
because  these  are  party  measures.  This  is  their  right, 
certainly,  on  questions  devoid  of  moral  character ; 
but  is  there  not  a  higher  obligation  resting  upon 
these  good  citizens  ?  It  is  for  them  to  explain  how 
they  can  support  p<irty  managers,  who  frame  meas- 
ures in  order  to  secure  the  influence  and  votes  of 
the  undesirable  elements  of  society.  As  in  days 
past,  the  South  held  the  balance  of  power  between 
the  two  great  National  parties  of  Democratic  and 
Whig,  so,  especially  in  the  Northern  States,  between 
the  law-abiding  and  intelligent  members  of  both  the 
main  political  parties  of  to-day — Democratic  and 
Republican  —  the  disorderly  elements  of  society 
hold  a  similiar  balance  of  power.  The  Republican 
has,  unquestionably,  a  better  record  in  respect  to  its 
efforts  to  elevate  the  people  by  moral  forces ;  it  is 
more  in  favor  of  temperance,  and  takes  in  that  re« 


214  POLITICAL   r ARTIES. 

epoot  liij^luT  moral  grouiul,  and  doinaiuls  more  order 
in  the  comimuiity.  Wc  would  not  detract  one  ])ar- 
tielc  from  tlie  meed  of  j)raise  due  tlie  c<^>od  and  j^en- 
erous  found  in  any  political  organization,  and  wc 
would  deem  the  liighcst  compliment  j)aid  such,  to 
consist  in  the  fact  that  neither  the  disorderly 
classes,  nor  those  who  countenance  them  belong  to 
it,  hut  hate  it  with  an  intensity  that  enhances  the 
value  of  the  compliment. 

If  the  law-abiding  and  upright  men  of  the  lead- 
ing jtolitical  j)arties  were  to  join  hands  on  questions 
that  partake  of  both  a  political  and  a  moral  charac- 
ter, such  as  temperance  and  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
drinks,  and  others  of  a  similar  kind,  as  gambling 
establishments,  the  disorderly  classes,  and  those 
who  abet  them,  would  get  little  encouragement ; 
and  soon  find  themselves  in  a  helpless  minority.  It 
is  notorious  as  a  rule,  that  notwithstanding  the 
many  good  citizens  that  are  in  the  Democratic 
ranks  yet  as  an  organization  it  often  legislates  to  favor 
these  classes,  or  negatively  aids  them  by  not  legis- 
lating. Can  there  be  any  mystery  why  those  per- 
sons whose  business  has  a  corrupting  effect  upon 
the  community  vote  as  they  do  ?  Now  the  ques- 
tion arises  how  can  moral  and  Christian  men,  w^ho 
really  abhor  evil,  vote  for  and  with  an  organization 
within  whose  fold  such  elements  find  a  welcome  ? 
Were  it  not  for  this  encouragement,  these  classes 
would  soon  lose  their  influence  even  in  the  party 
itself,  But  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  grade  of 
patriotism  that  leads  respectaltle  gentlemen  to  con- 


EVILS  OF  PARTISANSHIP.  215 

nive  at  these  evils,  and  quietly  avail  themselves  of 
the  votes  of  such  persons,  merely  to  keep  up  the 
prestige  of  the  party,  or  even  as  candidates  some 
times  act  as  figure-heads  of  respectability?  But 
something  more  is  required  to  secure  the  votes  of 
these  equivocal  classes — they  must  be  "conciliated." 
It  will  not  be  politic  to  have  a  prominent  member 
of  their  own  class  as  a  candidate,  lest  the  respect- 
ables of  the  party  should  rebel.  The  leaders  know 
how  to  secure  both  ends;  they  often  nominate  for 
the  office  in  municipal  affairs  a  respectable  gentle- 
man and  amiable  of  temper.  This  opens  the  way  to 
office  for  the  leaders  and  at  the  same  time  gives  them 
an  opportunity  to  reward  their  retainers.  On  ques- 
tions that  are  truly  National,  such  as  the  tariff  or 
free-trade,  foreign  policy  or  the  management  of  the 
finances,  as  the  case  may  be,  voters  have  different 
views,  and  in  that  case  their  sense  of  duty  leads 
them  to  vote  in  accordance  with  their  own  senti- 
ments and  with  the  organization  whose  views  on 
these  National  questions  coincide  with  their  own- 
But  why  should  good  citizens  so  vote  on  questions 
of  a  local  nature  as  merely  to  secure  the  supremacy 
of  a  party  as  such? 

Party  Material  Again. — It  is  a  notorious  fact 
that  at  the  present  time  as  it  was  in  the  earlier  days, 
(p.  41),  the  great  mass  of  the  Democratic  voters 
fail  in  comparison  as  to  their  general  intelligence 
with  the  similar  class  in  the  Republican  ranks. 
This  is  not  said  in  derogation  of  the  former,  as  if 
they  themselves  were  entirely  responsible  for  their 


216  POLITICAL   I'AIiTlES. 

misfortmu-,  tli(UiL:;li  tluTc  is  lit  tic  excuse  for  the  lack  of 
political  knowledge  ve  sonutiincs  sec  myoung  men 
ic/io  are  raters.  The  iiianagcment  of  the  former 
organization  is  confined  to  comparatively  very  few 
leaders,  who  hold  the  conventions,  ]iass  resolutions, 
construct  platforms,  and  wind  up  by  nominating 
the  candidates,  and  demanding  that  the  rank  and 
file  should  vote  as  thus  directed  ;  and  the  latter 
very  seldom  fail  their  leaders.  This  is  undeniably 
true ;  for  that  reason  at  first  Van  Buren  and  more 
recently  other  political  strategists  have  acted  on  the 
jn-inciple  that  the  mass  of  the  voters,  asking  no 
(piestions  for  the  sake  of  information,  should  take 
for  granted  that  the  dictum  of  the  leaders  must  be 
obeyed,  and  that  they  vote  the  ticket.  Though 
demanding  this  obedience  to  their  behest,  the  man- 
agers "hitherto  have  not  usually  enunciated  clearly 
and  explicitly  in  their  platforms  the  varying  ])oli- 
tical  theories  held  by  the  different  sections  of  the 
party.  Was  this  because  an  inconsistency  so  strik- 
ing would  lead  the  intelligent  nominal  Democrats 
to  hesitate  in  implicitly  obeying?  However  that 
may  be,  the  leaders  have  carried  out  the  most  per- 
fect despotism  known  to  our  political  annals. 

It  is  equally  notorious  that  the  leaders  of  the  pres- 
ent Rci>ublican  organization  could  not  if  they  de- 
sired lead  the  great  mass  of  their  members,  because 
the  latter  are  readers,  and  think  for  themselves,  and 
in  consequence  can  never  be  led  as  an  unthinking 
crowd.  Hence  the  latter  party  strives  to  be  con- 
sistent with  itself;  knowinir  it  must  cleai'lvnnd  dis- 


EVILS  OF  PARTISAXSHIl'.  217 

tiiK'tly  lay  down  the  principles  which  it  advocates, 
whatever  their  bearings.  Neither  does  its  intelligent 
following  tolerate  on  the  part  of  the  organization, 
jwlitical  dickerings  with  factions  of  other  parties, 
whose  principles  are  not  in  accordance,  in  the  main, 
with  those  of  their  own  organization.  It  is  essential 
therefore  that  the  enunciations  of  the  party  in  its  plat- 
forms, shoixld  be  so  clear  and  distinct,  as  not  to  ad- 
mit of  double  or  doubtful  meanings  ;  they  never  did 
nor  do  they  tolerate  repudiation,  in  any  form,  of  the 
])ublic  debt  principal  or  interest ;  they  are  clear  in 
their  statements  on  the  tariff,  and  on  the  subject  of 
education,  while  they  do  not  hesitate  to  express 
themselves  on  the  importance  of  restraining  intem- 
perance. 

Republican  Independence.— The  most  striking 
instance  we  have  seen  of  the  intelligent  members 
of  this  organization  asserting  themselves  was  when 
they  recently  rose  and  annihilated  the  power  of 
certain  political  "  Bosses "  as  they  are  vulgarly 
called,  who  wished  to  manage  it  in  their  own  in- 
terest. The  main  portion  of  the  party  were  moving 
along  in  the  even  tenor  of  their  way,  politically 
speaking,  when  suddenly  they  realized  that  a  com- 
paratively small  number  of  members  had  by  vari- 
ous means  gradually  obtained  control  of  the  inner 
management  of  the  organization.  The  great  mass 
of  the  members,  indignant  that  they  should  be 
deemed  by  these  gentlemen  fit  subjects  to  be  thus 
held  in  hand,  made  short  work  with  the  "  Boss  " 
system  and  in  spite  of  party  discipline  the  "  Inde- 


21S  rolJTlCAL    rAHTltiS. 

pendents"  rapiiUy  assunu'tl  the  controlling  hand. 
They  detormineil  to  retain  in  their  own  liands  the 
control  of  the  selection  of  the  members  to  the 
State  and  National  Conventions.  The  "Bosses" 
had  been  in  tlie  liabit  of  virtually  appointing 
throuirh  the  county  committees,  the  delegates  to 
the  State  CoJivention,  and  the  latter,  the  delegates 
to  the  National  Convention.  The  design  was  to 
have  the  latter  obey  the  instructions  of  the  State 
Convention,  in  preference  to  the  will  of  the  people 
themselves  of  the  districts,  which  these  delegates 
were  chosen  and  presumed  to  represent. 

The  Republican  party  is  by  no  means  perfect ; 
yet  one  custom  it  deserves  credit  for,  that  is,  when 
abuses  have  grown  up  among  government  officials, 
or  members  of  Congress  belonging  to  it,  the  charges 
are  investigated  and  the  delinquents  brought  to 
trial ;  for  example,  the  cases  of  those  who  were 
connected  with  the  "  Credit  Mobilier  "  scheme,  and 
the  "  Star  Route  "  affair ;  while  it  is  just  as  strin- 
gent in  relation  to  its  internal  management ;  witness 
the  short  work  it  made  of  the  "  Boss "  system. 
Every  political  organization  is  liable  to  be  imposed 
upon  by  selfish  and  dishonest  men,  who  connect 
themselves  with  it  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out 
corrupt  or  selfish  measures.  But  we  judge  of  the 
organization  itself  by  the  manner  in  which  it  treats 
such  delinquents. 


SOUTHERN  AND  NORTHERN  DEMOCRATS.  219 


XXXII. 

SOUTHERN     AND     NORTHERN     DEMOC- 
RACY. 

Old  Lines  Redrawn. — The  intimate  relations  ex. 
isting  before  the  Rebellion  between  the  Democratic 
leaders  in  the  Free-Labor  States  and  the  leaders  of 
its  Southern  wing  are  worthy  of  notice  because  they 
still  continue.  During  the  period  just  mentioned — 
from  about  1824  onward — were  blending  two  dis- 
similar elements,  whose  united  influence  was  thence- 
forth felt  in  sustaining  each  other  in  political  rela- 
tions. These  were  the  slave-OAvners  and  the  Irish 
immigrants  in  the  Fi-ee-Labor  States ;  the  latter 
nearly  all  voted  the  Democratic  ticket  with  the 
majority  of  the  former.  These  two  classes  of  voters 
had  really  no  bond  of  sympathy  with  each  other, 
and  therefore  the  connection  was  incongruous ;  the 
slave-holder  looked  with  the  greatest  contempt 
upon  the  poor  laboring  Irishmen,  while  the  latter 
in  his  never  failing  vote,  often  in  respect  to  his  own 
interests  most  blindly  given,  was  essential  to  the 
political  success  of  the  leaders,  both  North  and 
South.  These  relations  still  remain,  though  the 
circumstances  are  somewhat  changed.  In  the  for- 
mer  case,  in    the   langunge   of   the   time,  the  slave 


220  POLITICAL   J'AUTIES. 

owners  "  c  racki'tl  tlu'  wliip;"  in  the  latter  the 
Northern  haulers,  earing  less  for  repairing  the  waste 
places  of  the  South  and  the  development  of  its 
natural  resources,  than  for  ol)taining  the  control  of 
the  National  Government,  go  liand  in  hand  with 
Ihe  present  Southern  wing — known  as  the  "solid" 
South.  The  leaders  in  the  liebellion  would  never 
have  entered  upon  that  project,  had  they  not  had 
the  connivance  of  the  Northern  Democratic  poli- 
ticans  ;  but  -when  the  crisis  came  a  large  majority 
of  the  rank  and  Jile  of  the  i)arty  declined  to  follow 
these  gentlemen  any  further,  but  promptly  took  up 
arms  and  nobly  defended  the  life  of  the  Nation. 
Great  numbers,  also,  of  the  thoughtful,  intelligent 
and  leading  men  of  the  ])arty,  but  not  politicians, 
who  were  never  taken  into  the  secrets  of  the  con- 
spiracy, indignant  at  the  insult  offered  the  Nation 
at  Sumter,  burst  the  meshes  of  partisan  toils,  and 
joined  those  who  were  determined  to  defend  the 
integrity  of  the  Union.  The  native  born  of  the 
latter  have  rarely  returned  to  the  fold  of  Democ- 
racy; they  imderstood  Avhy  they  chose  to  be  loyal 
at  that  time,  and  why  they  now  ])reserve  their 
present  political  relations.  The  same  may  be  said 
in  respect  to  the  native  born  jtrivate  soldiers,  nimi- 
bers  of  whom  were  originally  Democrats,  but  were 
equally  indignant  at  the  insult  offei-e(I  the  "  Stars 
and  Stri])es,"  and  w'ho  came  to  fully  understand 
the  principles  involved  in  the  contest.  There  were, 
however,  other  private  soldiers  from  the  same 
Democracv — jjenorous   and  bra\e   Irishmen — n^reat 


SOUTHER X  AKD  XOBTIIERN  LEMOCRATS.  ooj 

multitudes  of  whom,  after  the  close  of  the  war 
returned  to  the  party  and  are  to-day  its  staunchest 
adherents,  right  or  wrong.  After  the  war  they 
were  much  influenced  by  their  old  leaders,  who 
purposely  appealed  to  their  ancient  prejudices 
against  the  colored  peoi»le.  They  were  made  to 
believe,  among  other  absurdities,  that  the  P^reedmen 
were  to  be  brought  North  for  the  express  purpose 
of  depriving  the  Irishmen  of  their  opportunities  for 
work.  These  inducements  and  old  associations 
have  brought  them  fully  back,  and  they  are  now 
depended  upon,  as  in  the  olden  time,  to  vote  the 
ticket  under  all  circumstances. 

It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  even  during  the  Rebel- 
Yion  there  were  native  Noilhern  Democrats  who 
were  loyal  and  yet  honestly  in  the  opposition  ;  and 
since  the  war,  too,  many  old-time  Democrats  have 
returned  to  that  i^arty  and  from  sincere  conviction 
oppose  the  measures  of  the  Republicans.  Never- 
theless, the  general  lines  of  the  statements  above 
stand  as  correct. 

Northern  Aid  for  the  South — Almost  as  soon 
as  the  war  closed,  there  arose  a  strong  sentiment 
among  the  humane  of  the  North  to  aid  the  mass  of 
the  people  of  the  South,  who  had  suffered  so 
much,  and  who  were  not  thought  by  these  benevo- 
lent persons  to  have  brought  this  ruin  upon  them- 
selves, but  believed  to  be  the  victims  of  the  political 
ambition  of  certain  leaders.  In  accordance  with 
this  feeling,  efforts  were  made  among  the  benevo- 
lent of  the  North  to  aid  the  educational  institutions 


:i'22  POLITICAL    HAHTLKS. 

of  iho  Stall's  recently  in  tlie  Ixebellion.  The  largest 
donations  were  made  by  men  who  had  been  loyal 
to  the  Union — witness  the  money  raised  to  aid  the 
colleges — Wasliington  and  Lee,  and  William  and 
Mary  in  Virginia,  Vanderbilt  university  in  Xashvillc 
— the  latter  a  j)ersonaI  gift — and  the  Slater  fund. 
This  aiil  has  continued  to  be  given  ever  since  to 
various  institutions  of  learning;  besides,  funds  have 
been  given  to  schools  to  promote  a  common  English 
education.  Meanwhile,  the  Northern  Democratic 
leaders  manifested  but  little  sympathy  for  the  poor 
sufTering  Southern  people  ;  for  the  most  part  they 
stood  aloof,  making  no  movement ;  and  seemed 
anxious  only  to  secure  the  assistance  of  the  ex-Con- 
federate leaders  in  order  to  regain  the  political 
power  they  had  lost  in  1860. 

Northern  Sympathy  for  the  South. — In  addi- 
tion to  money  given,  as  we  have  seen,  to  colleges, 
and  to  aid  the  cause  of  education  in  the  South  at 
tlie  close  of  the  Rebellion,  was  a  more  general  uj)- 
rising  in  the  minds  of  the  loyal  and  benevolent  of 
the  Xorth  to  aid  their  poor  brethren,  whose  homes 
had  been  made  desolate.  They  looked  upon  the 
gi'eat  mass  of  the  Southern  peojile  as  having  been 
the  victims  of  a  despotism,  inaugurated  by  the 
would-be  secessionists,  unequalled  in  its  tyranny  to 
any  similar  rule  in  modern  Christendom.  Their 
S}Tnpathics  went  out  toward  these  innocent  suffer- 
ers,  and  they  were  willing  to  aid  in  rejtairing  the 
material  ruins  incident  to  the  war  by  furnishing  the 
means  to  repair  the  railways,  and,  if  need  be,  estab- 


SOUTHERN  AND  NORTUEUN  DEMOCliATS.  223 

lish  manufactories.  This  was  not  offered  as  a  mere 
gift  to  the  people  of  the  States  recently  in  rebellion, 
but  in  the  end  to  benefit  both  sections  of  the  land. 
The  develo])ment  of  the  resources  of  the  whole 
country  was  the  object  to  be  attained,  irrespective 
of  location,  or  of  the  fact  that  certain  leaders  had 
endeavored  to  destroy  the  National  Government, 
in  which  unnatural  contest  the  mass  of  their  own 
people  had  been  made  to  suffer  the  hori-ors  of  war 
for  four  years.  It  was  well  known  that  the  majority 
of  the  Southern  people  themselves  were  opposed  to 
breaking  up  the  Union,  and  if  the  bare  question  of 
union  or  disunion  had  been  submitted  to  them  in  a 
fair  and  free  election,  they  would  have  voted  for 
preserving  the  integrity  of  the  Nation  by  over- 
whelming majorities,  except  in  the  State  of  South 
Carolina.  On  the  contrary,  by  a  series  of  manoju- 
vers  and  misrepresentations  of  politicians,  their 
wishes  were  overruled  and  they  themselves,  in  great 
numbers,  driven  into  the  army  to  fight  for  what  they 
did  not  apj)rove,  and  even  abhorred. 

The  Rebuff.— After  the  close  of  the  Rebellion 
there  were  thousands  of  households  in  the  Northern 
States  who  were  ready,  under  these  changed  rela- 
tions, to  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  Southern  people. 
The  same  households  would  have  been  attracted 
thither  long  before  the  war  by  the  genial  climate 
and  rich  soil  of  that  region,  but  the  insuperable 
objection  in  the  way  Avas  slavery,  the  evil  influence 
of  which,  in  respect  to  material  progress,  was  not 
to  be  compared  with  its  ruinous  effects  upon  fami- 


1'1?4  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

lies  ill  tlK'ir  m(ir;il  :mtl  donu'stif  rclatiop.s.  Iiiti'lli- 
gont  ami  worthy  hoads  of  lioust'holds  knew  this,  and 
ihoy  wore  unwilling  to  subject  their  families  to 
sueh  jjrospeetive  evils.  The  war  over,  great  numbers 
of  energetic  and  intelligent  men  of  the  North  trans- 
ferred their  ])i-o|ierty  and  families  to  the  Southern 
States,  intending  there  to  make  their  homes.  C'ai)ital 
was,  to  a  certain  extent,  furnished  for  repairing  rail- 
ways and  building  new  ones,  and  to  be  used  in 
renewing  the  waste  places.  These  efforts  were  not 
appreciated.  Could  not  the  ex-Confederate  leaders 
see  the  advantage  of  these  extended  railways,  of 
farms  well  cultivated,  of  mines  of  mineral  wealth 
such  as  coal  and  iron,  opened  and  workeil  and  man- 
ufactures established,  affording  in  time  employ- 
ment to  thousands  of  persons,  male  and  female? 
These  leaders  seemed  unable  to  comprehend  the 
idea,  tliat  wlien  a  well  meaning  and  industrious  man 
comes  into  a  neighborhood,  bringing  with  him  his 
family,  it  must  be  with  the  hoi)e  of  bettering  his 
condition,  and  of  finding  a  permanent  home.  In- 
stead of  truly  welcoming  these  moral  and  industri- 
ous men  and  their  households,  who  proposed  to  cast 
in  their  lot  among  them,  the  ex-Rebels  looked  on 
them  with  sus])icious  eyes.  In  consequence  a  series  of 
petty  annoyances  were  put  in  train — a  kind  of  social 
ostracism.  Especially  was  this  the  case  if  the  new 
comer  exercised  the  ])resumed  rights  of  the  Amer- 
ican citizen,  of  thinking  for  himself,  and  voting  in 
accordance  with  his  convictions,  or  instructed  the 
colored  children   in  Sabbath  or  in  other  schools. 


SOUTHERN  AND  NOUTIIEUN  DEMOCRATS.  225 

Then  followed  in  many  places  maurauding  expedi- 
tions of  the  Ku  Klux,  to  terrify  and  commit  out- 
rages on  the  P^reedmen,  on  the  natives  who  had 
been  Union  men,  and  on  these  new  comers.  These 
bands  were  made  up  of  the  younger  ex-Rebels  and 
the  sons  of  former  slave-holders. 

Southern  Outrages  and  Northern  Democrats. 
— It  may  be  asked  what  had  the  Democratic  Party 
North  to  do  with  these  outrages  ?  The  answer  is 
that  they  encouraged  these  crimes  by  conniving  at 
them.  Their  papers  and  leaders  in  the  North  either 
apologized  for  them,  or  ])roclaimed  that  the  accounts 
of  assassinations  and  kindred  outrages  were  greatly 
exaggerated.  The  facts  in  the  case  are  embodied 
in  a  report  of  a  committee  (/Senator  Teller,  Chair- 
mcm),  appointed  by  the  U.  S.  Senate;  this  volumin- 
ous report  contains  the  sworn  testimony  of  numerous 
'witnesses  to  these  outrages.  The  pertinent  ques- 
tion may  be  asked,  were  the  Northern  Democratic 
leaders  careful  to  have  a  fair  account  of  these  out- 
rages published  in  their  recognized  organs?  What 
would  have  been  the  result  if  these  leaders  and 
their  organs,  certain  newspapers,  had  denounced 
these  outrages,  and  proclaimed  to  the  ex-Confed- 
erates, that  while  they  sympathized  with  them  in 
their  recent  contest  with  the  government,  the  De- 
mocracy of  the  Northern  States  would  not  tolerate 
such  crimes  nor  countenance  their  authors ;  can 
there  be  a  reasonable  doubt  that  these  marauding 
expeditions  would  soon  have  ceased  ?  We  are  able  to 
understand  the  s)>irit  which  animated  the  leaders  of 


226  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

iho  Xortlieni  Doinocracy,  from  the  fact  that  when 
President  Johnson  vetoed  that  benevolent  measure, 
tlie  "  Freodnien's  Bureau  Bill,"  which  was  desi<rned 
to  aid,  also,  the  poor  whites  of  the  South  in  their 
unparalleled  distress,  and  likewise  when  ho  vetoed 
the  ''Civil  l\iy;h(s  Bill,"  these  leaders  and  jiaiters  ap- 
plauded the  vetoes.  The  latter  being  overruled  by 
Congress,  both  the  bills  became  laws,  but  that  ap- 
plause gave  encouragement  to  the  ex-Kebels,  and  they 
])roceeded  in  the  attempt  to  neutralize  the  effects 
of  the  laws,  by  committing  outrages  on  innocent 
])ersons.  Is  it  uncharitable  to  su])])ose  that  the  ex- 
Confederate  leaders  hoj)ed  and  exj)ected,  through 
the  aid  of  their  native  allies,  and  of  the  latter's  un- 
failing foreign  vote  to  obtain  control  of  the  National 
Government  ?  It  is  scarcely  worth  while,  as  the 
fact  is  so  well  known,  to  show  how  com})letely  the 
former  carried  out  their  part  of  the  programme  in 
securing  the  control  of  the  ex-slave-holding  States. 
These  acts  of  violence,  thus  encouraged,  unques- 
tionably retarded  the  material  progress  of  those 
States  more  than  any  other  cause  for  the  time  being. 
The  late  Hon.  Reverdy  Johnson,  a  Democrat,  and 
an  eminent  lawyer  of  Baltimore,  was  induced  to 
undertake  the  defence  of  some  of  these  marauders 
at  Charleston,  S.  C,  but  when  he  learned  the  truth 
as  to  the  atrocities  of  their  crimes,  he  withdrew  in 
horror  fi-om  the  court  and  would   not  plead. 

The  Presumed  Political  Reasons. — There  is 
no  disguising  the  fact  that  the  Northern  leaders  of 
the  Democracy  confidently  depended  for  "aid  and 


SOUTHERN  AND  NORTHEBN  DEMOCRATS.  227 

comfort "  iij)on  the  great  majority  of  the  ex-Con- 
federates,  while  tlie  latter  seem  to  have  been  blind 
to  their  own  interests.  This  was  manifested  as  soon 
as  they  recovered  from  the  dazed  condition  in  which 
the  total  and  sudden  collapse  of  the  Rebellion  left 
them.  Had  they  let  bygones  be  bygones,  as  the 
loyal  peo])le  of  the  North  wished,  and  fallen  in  with 
the  pi'ogressive  portion  of  the  people — the  Repub- 
licans and  loyal  Democrats — how  different  would 
have  been  their  material  progress  !  Capital  would 
have  jioured  in  from  the  North,  as  it  did  for  a 
while,  and  the  waste  places  would  have  been  made 
to  flourish  again  ;  railways  repaired,  and  new  ones 
built.  But  no  ;  the  disloyalists  in  the  North,  who  had 
favored  the  Rebellion  as  much  as  they  dared,  did 
nothing  to  aid  the  ex-Confederates  materially ;  but 
soon  it  was  found  that  by  some  mysterious  influence, 
an  understanding  was  existing  between  the  leaders 
of  the  Democracy  in  the  loyal  States  and  the  ex- 
Confederates,  especially  those  who  had  figured  as 
politicians.  The  object  of  that  coalition  was  to  se- 
cure the  control  of  the  National  Government.  To 
be  sure  they  called  into  existence  a  "  Solid  South," 
but  in  the  process  of  doing  so,  lost  irretrievably 
a  whole  decade  or  more  of  active  industry  that  might 
have  been  full  of  promise. 


XXXIII. 
SOUTHERNERS  AS  STATESMEN. 

Sectional  Narrowness. — It  has  been  said  by 
their  admirers,  e8i)ecially  among  certain  politicians, 
that  the  southern  leaders  were  born  rulers  of  men. 
Yet  when  they  came  to  rule  by  the  force  of  educa- 
tion and  genuine  statesmanshij),  they  signally  failed. 
They  managed  affairs  in  Congress  previous  to  18G1, 
not  by  the  power  of  a  comprehensive  policy  that 
carries  with  it  conviction,  but  by  tact ;  their  nation- 
al statesmanship  after  the  failure  of  Nullification, 
was  dwarfed  for  more  than  a  generation  by  Sec- 
tionalism. Since  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  and 
the  raising  of  cotton  became  important  because  })ro- 
fitable,  they  never  introduced  into  Congress  or  sup- 
ported a  measure  of  comprehensive  Nation  il  cha- 
rcter  that  would  benefit  the  entire  people  ;  instead^ 
they  opposed  every  effort  of  the  kind.  Witness 
Cheap  Postage  and  the  Homestead  Law,  etc.  They 
were  politically  selfish  ;  that  is,  every  measure  before 
Congress,  was  n\ade  subordinate  to  the  cotitinuance 
and  extension  of  their  "  peculiar  institution."  The 
annexation  of  Texas,  was  jireeminently  of  this  class; 
the  acquisition  of  California  was  an  afterthought,  and 
the  discovery  of  gold  an  event  which  no  one  con- 
temi)lated. 

Taking  Time  by  the  Forelock.— It   shows   the 


SOUTHERNERS  AS  STATESMEN.  "229 

astuteness  and  tact  of  these  self-oonstituted  rulers, 
that  they  took  time  by  the  forelock,  and  made  the 
charge  of  Sectionalism  against  those  in  the  Free-Labor 
States,  who  opposed  their  plans  of  aggrandizement. 
This  hue  and  cry  was  taken  up  by  the  Northern  De- 
mocratic leaders,  who  by  means  of  their  newspapers 
filled  the  air  with  these  accusations  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  honest,  but  timid  people  began  to  think, 
that  by  opposing  the  extension  of  slavery,  they  had 
in  some  mysterious  way  committed  a  sort  of  treason 
against  the  Nation.  Since  the  close  of  the  rebellion 
similar  tactics  have  been  brought  into  requisition  in 
order  to  divert  attention  from  well  known  outrages 
and  crimes,  even  those  of  murder  that  have  been  used 
to  intimidate  voters  in  some  of  the  recent  slave  states 
and  thus  gain  political  ends.  The  newspapers  which 
dared  censure  these  crimes  and  urge  Congress  to  in- 
vestigate them  are  charged  with  :  "  WaA  ing  the 
Bloody  Shirt "  a  vulgar  phrase  whose  imj  oil  is  well 
known. 

Sectionalism. — The  people  of  the  Free-Labor 
States  had  no  sectional  schemes  for  their  own  aggrand- 
izements. They  wished,  it  is  true,  to  succeed  in  their 
varied  industrial  and  commercial  pursuits,  and  also 
to  promote  the  education  of  the  children  of  all 
classes ;  the  latter  ambition — outside  the  foreign 
population,  was  a  sort  of  useful  hobby.  This  is  evi- 
denced by  the  interest  universally  taken  in  the  sub- 
ject, and  in  the  vast  amounts  of  money,  which  during 
the  period  from  1833  to  1861,  were  voted  by  their 
State  Legislatures  to  promote  education,  and  likewise 


2"0  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

tlu'  immoroiis  iiimiiti( nit  gifts  of  iiidivuhials  to  tha 
s:iTno  causi'.  Tliciv  could  bi;  nothing  sectional  in 
thi«.  On  the  coiitr.iry  the  benevolent  and  religious 
societies  located  in  the  Free-Labor  States  did  all  they 
could  to  give  these  advantages  to  their  Southern 
brethren,  till  the  spirit  of  slavery  inspired  the  poli- 
ticians to  interfere  with  the  work  (American  Peo- 
ple, p.  8G1,8G2).  Unfortunately,  on  the  contrary,  this 
spirit  of  sectionalism  had  become  so  deeply  rooted  in 
the  minds  of  Southern  statesmen,  that  some  of  them 
when  afterward  ex-Confederates  could  not  realize 
that  the  conditions  of  affairs  were  radically  changed 
after  the  rebellion  was  crushed,  and  they  still  hoped 
to  rule  by  means  of  their  old  associates  the  disloyal 
faction  in  the  Xorthern  Democracy.  The  opinion 
])revailed,  and  was  cherished  among  the  people  of 
the  North,  that  the  ex-slaveholders,  after  their  terri- 
ble experience,  would  enter  upon  a  course  of  indus- 
trial life  such  as  had  prevailed  in  the  Free-Labor 
States.  The  argument  adduced  in  support  of  this 
theory,  was  that  they  had  superior  advantages  in  soil 
and  climate,  Avhich,  with  appropiate  labor,  would 
make  that  the  richest  section  of  the  Union  in  the 
steady  sale  of  the  products  of  the  soil — such  as  cotton 
and  tobacco,  while  its  highlands  were  unrivaled  in 
their  water  power,  and  its  mountains  were  rich  in 
minerals.  This  was  before  the  opening  of  the  great 
trade  to  Europe  in  grain  from  the  plains  of  the 
Northwest.  But  these  philosophers  were  doomed 
to  disappointment,  and  more  became  fools  than  the 
one  who  wrote  the  "  Fool's  EiTand." 


SOUTHERNERS  AS  STATESMEN.  231 

Mismanagement  of  Private  Affairs. — In  the 
olden  time  before  the  civil  war  the  leading  planters 
for  the  most  part  gave  up  the  management  of  their 
])lantations  to  overseers,  while  they  devoted  them- 
selves to  politics ;  meeting  in  conventions  and  passing 
resolutions,  which  often  berated  the  people  of  the 
Free-Labor  States,  as  if  the  latter  did  wrong  in  buying 
the  former's  cotton  at  its  market  value,  then  paid  for 
it  without  asking  credit,  and  either  manufactured 
it  themselves  or  sent  it  to  Europe,  and  made  a  living 
profit  by  the  operation.  The  North  never  went  in 
debt  to  the  South,  while  the  latter  through  improv- 
idence was  always  in  debt  to  the  former.  This  re- 
lation of  mercantile  affairs  may  have  aroused,  though 
unconsciously,  a  feeling  of  obligation  on  the  part  of 
a  portion  of  the  people  of  the  Slave-Labor  States,  in 
respect  to  Northern  business  men,  that  finally  degen- 
erated into  hostility.  Meanwhile,  the  people  of  the 
Free-Labor  States  continued  to  progress  in  their 
varied  industrial  interests,  and  in  the  rapid  increase 
of  their  population  as  revealed  from  census  to  census. 
We  have  seen  since  the  close  of  the  Rebellion  a 
phase  of  the  same  characteristic  improvidence  on 
the  part  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  Southern  people ; 
while  others,  who  had  not  been  in  politics,  nor  in- 
fluenced by  its  traditions,  but  had  been  ruined  by 
the  war,  went  to  work  in  a  true  nobleness  of  inde- 
pendence and  in  a  legitimate  way,  to  retrieve  what 
they  had  lost ;  the  former  class,  mostly  "  idle  young 
men  of  the  first  families,"  took  different  measures. 
They  formed  themselves  into  bands  of   midnight 


2^2  POI.ITICAI.   r ARTIES. 

maraiKlors,  as  w»>  liave  soon,  and  undor  tho  name  of 
"  Ku  Ivlux,"  roamed  over  tlio  country,  abusing  the 
frcednien  and  the  native  white  nion  wlio  had  hoon 
loyal  to  the  Union  ;  thus  retarding  tho  material  pro- 
gress of  that  section  so  much,  that  it  has  not  yet 
fullv  recovered  from  that  direful  iiifluonco. 

Blunders  in  Public  Affairs. — Of  similar  char- 
aeter  is  the  famous  boast  often  heard  that  the 
material  progress  of  the  country  during  the  greater 
portion  of  the  Nation's  life,  from  Thomas  Jefferson 
to  Abraham  Lincoln,  was  owing  to  the  superior 
management  of  the  national  affairs  by  Democratic 
statesmen.  On  the  contrary,  the  history  of  our 
industrial  progress  in  every  respect  during  this 
period,  shows  that  this  advancement  was  due  to  the 
inherent  energy  of  the  people  themselves,  which  com- 
pelled success  in  spite  of  much  crude  legislation  by 
the  statesmen  of  those  times.  The  Xatioual  govern- 
ment was  for  the  greater  portion  of  this  period 
under  the  control  of  the  slave-power,  and  to  such 
an  extent  that  all  ])ublic  measures  were  either 
stifled  or  moulded  by  that  influence.  They  had 
before  them  one  steady  aim,  especially  from  the 
time  of  Nullification  onward ;  that  aim  was  to 
strengthen  the  power  and  influence  of  slavery,  and 
preserve  its  integrity,  and  felt  but  little  interest  in 
the  progress  of  the  people  at  large.  This  may  be 
accounted  for  on  the  principle  that  the  Southern 
statesmen  seemed  never  to  take  in  the  full  import 
of  the  small  amount  of  wages  paid  to  operatives  in 
Europe,  when  compared  Mith  that  paid  to  similar 


SOLTIIEHXERS  AS  STATESMEX.  233 

workpeople  in  the  United  States.  The  only 
])lausible  solution  of  this  mistake  is,  that  as  they 
(lid  not  pay  their  slaves  wages,  they  had  but  little 
sympathy  for  those  who  worked  for  hire.  This 
defective  element  entered  largely  into  their  states- 
manship, when  they  endeavored  to  introduce  Free- 
Trade  or  nearly  so,  by  not  taking  into  consideration 
the  effect  of  the  low  wages  paid  in  Europe,  upon 
those  paid  our  own  workpeople  in  the  Free-Labor 
States,  when  employed  in  manufacturing  the  same 
class  of  goods.  The  custom  of  paying  no  wages  at 
all,  as  in  the  case  of  their  slaves,  put  the  slave- 
owners on  an  equality  with  those  who  paid  low 
wages  in  Europe.  The  support  of  the  slaves  in 
place  of  their  being  paid,  about  counterbalanced  the 
low  wages  paid  operatives  in  Europe,  out  of  which 
the  latter  supported  themselves.  Had  the  slaves 
only  been  able  to  manufacture  or  work  in  mills,  the 
result  would  have  been  the  utter  prostration  of  the 
higher  wages  necessary  to  secure  competent  work- 
people in  the  factories  in  the  Free-Labor  States. 

Tact  in  Management. — It  may  be  asked  why 
the  South,  with  comparatively  a  smaller  number  of 
members,  exerted  in  Congress  so  much  influence 
down  to  1861  ?  It  was  not  because  of  their  greater 
learning  in  law  and  political  principles,  for  in  that 
respect,  taken  as  a  whole,  they  were  inferior  to  the 
Xorthern  members ;  nor  from  true  statesmanship, 
for  they  never  were  the  promoters  of  comprehen- 
sive measures  beneficial  to  the  people  in  the  various 
sections  of  the  land,  taking  in  the  diversities   of 


'i:U  rui.iTicAL  j'Airrih'S. 

cliinale  in  our  vast  domain.  Tlir  measures  tlii-y 
spcfially  promoted,  directly  or  indirectly,  were 
jilaniu'd  and  desij^ned  to  l»e  in  the  interest  of  tlieir 
own  section  and  of  slavery,  either  in  streiigtheninjjj 
it  where  it  existed,  or  of  extending  it,  so  as  to  make 
it  National.  Jt  was  their  tact  in  managing  men  ; 
often  measures  were  carried  through  Congress  hy 
means  of  their  superior  parliamentary  tactics  alone. 
They  acquired  this  skill,  because  the  politicians  of 
that  section  sent  to  Congress  usually  the  same  men, 
from  session  to  session,  and  always,  without  ex- 
ception, from  the  same  class — slave-owners — and 
thus  they  acquired  by  continuous  experience,  the 
power  of  managing  that  body,  and  of  moulding  a 
majority  of  the  members  for  their  own  interests — 
as  in  voting  they  held  the  balance  of  power. 
Especially  w'as  this  the  case  with  respect  to  the 
Democratic  leaders  and  members  from  the  Free- 
Labor  States ;  the  latter  having  a  following  at 
home  that  did  their  bidding,  in  a  class  of  citizens  of 
foreign  birth,  who  invariably  voted  in  accordance 
with  the  dictation  of  these  subordinate  leaders. 
This  unenlightened  class  never  changed ;  they 
voted  continuously  the  same  ticket,  and  oftentimes 
indirectly  for  measures  which  were  clearly  against 
their  own  interests,  as  laboring  men  or  mechanics. 
This  fact  w^as  well  known  to  the  Southern  leaders  ; 
they  had  (mly  to  secure  the  Northern  Democratic 
members  in  Congress,  the  latter  being  sure  of  their 
own  following  at  home.  During  the  period  (1829- 
1861)   there  was  not  a  comprehensive  measure  to 


SOUTflERNERS  AS  STATESMEN.  235 

benefit  the  people  at  large  introduced  into  Congress 
by  a  Southern  member,  except  the  Homestead  Bill 
by  Andrew  Johnson — he  seems,  as  a  Southern 
member,  to  have  stood  alone  or  nearly  so  in  that 
movement.  Witness  the  persistent  opposition  of 
the  Southern  members  and  of  their  allies  from  the 
Free-Labor  States,  to  the  introduction  of  Cheap 
Postage  and  to  the  Homestead  Bill,  and  every 
measure  designed  to  encourage  the  mechanical  in- 
dustries or  the  commerce  of  the  whole  nation. 

Lack  of  Practical  Wisdom. — It  was  little  short 
of  madness  for  the  ex-Confederate  leaders  not  to 
accept  the  situation  in  good  faith  at  the  close  of 
the  Rebellion  ;  meanwhile,  going  vigorously  to  work 
in  repairing  the  waste  places  of  their  own  land,  and 
cordially  welcoming  all  those  who  came  to  live  in  their 
States  as  upright  and  thrifty  citizens.  But  instead 
they  stood  aloof,  as  did  the  Democratic  leaders  in 
the  Northern  States.  The  latter,  as  such,  seem  to 
have  had  but  little  intention  of  aiding  their  Southern 
brethren  in  recuperating  their  strength  in  material 
progress,  and  in  enabling  the  mass  of  the  people  to 
recover  their  desolated  lands  and  rebuild  their  ruined 
houses  ;  seemingly,  their  only  object  Avas  to  secure 
in  their  favor  the  political  influence  of  the  former 
leaders  in  the  Rebellion.  The  latter,  it  was  said, 
at  the  suggestion  of  these  Noi'thern  leaders,  ab- 
stained from  voting  at  some  important  elections, 
which  pertained  to  bringing  back  their  States  into 
the  Union  under  what  Avas  termed  the  policy  of 
"  Reconstruction  "    {American   People,  pp.    1,033, 


L'8«'.  J'OLITJCAI.    J'AirJ'Jh'S. 

1,04  0,  will' li  '.viis  ndapU'd  ti)  secure  llic  li^^hls  of 
the  I'lv'iMliiieii  as  citizens,  nii<l  to  afford  facilities 
for  eilncatioii  to  .iil  classes.  The  Democratic  lea<lers 
])r  'ferre.l  the  "•  policy  "  of  Andrew  Johnson,  known 
as  tl'.at  of  "  l\e«toration  ;  "  '•  that  was  to  reeei\e 
the  recently  rebellions  States  hack  :nto  the  Union 
just  as  they  had  been  before,  the  war,  taking  no  note 
of  the  relation  no\7  held  to  Iho  generd  government, 
and  to  the  whole  Nntior.,  by  tho-^o  vho  were  once 
Blares,  but  now  free  nion  and,  ai  TJch,  citizens." 

It  is  a  mystery  why  the  ey-Corjfederates  at  the 
close  of  the  war  had  so  little  self-respect  as  to 
affiliate  with  the  Northern  disloyal  leaders,  who,  as 
the  former  charged,  had  encouraged  them  to  make 
the  attempt  at  seceding  from  the  Union,  but  when 
the  effort  was  made,  for  the  most  part,  unceremo- 
niously deserted  them.  As  honorable  men,  they 
must  have  had  much  more  resj)ect  for  those  who 
met  them  face  to  face  on  the  V)attle-field,  than  for 
those  Avho  jirofessed  to  have  their  cause  at  heart, 
but  when  the  hour  of  trial  came  w'ere  found  want- 
ing. The  soldiers,  both  Union  and  Confederate, 
who  "  tried  each  other's  mettle  "  in  deadly  conflict, 
after  the  struggle  was  over,  were  one  and  all  kindly 
disposed  toward  their  recent  opponents ;  they  were 
animated  by  mutual  respect.  If  the  majority  of 
the  ex-Confederate  soldiers  alone  of  the  South  had 
had  their  wish,  they  no  doubt  would  have  welcomed 
emigrants  from  the  North  to  settle  among  them 
Avith  their  families.  It  was  those  belligerent  gen- 
tlemen,   "chimney-corner  soldieis"   or  jioliticians, 


SOUTHERNERS  AS  STATESMEX.  237 

who  were  the  unreconciled  ;  but  Gens.  Robert  E. 
Lee  (0/iihrs  Life  of  Lee^  p.  331),  Longstreet,  and 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  and  many  such  honored  offi- 
cers of  the  Confederate  army,  were  wilUng  in  the 
spirit  of  ])atriotism  to  let  bygones  be  bygones,  and 
counseled  all  to  labor  in  making  the  whole  country 
prosperous  and  happy. 

The  Infatuation. — The  ex-leaders  of  the  Rebel- 
lion seemed  to  be  infatuated  in  listening  to  injudi- 
cious advice,  and  in  iOTorins:  the  fact  that  the  much 
greater  portion  of  the  capital  in  the  Xorthern  States 
was  under  the  control  of  the  Republicans — who 
were  progressive  both  in  theory  and  practice — and 
only  with  their  assistance  could  the  ruins  of  the 
South  be  repaired  ;  and  that  this  capital  properly 
invested,  and  combined  with  the  labor  of  their  own 
people,  constituted  the  true  basis  for  a  rapid  devel- 
opment of  the  resources  of  that  section.  Had  they 
not  listened  to  selfish  advisers,  but  let  ])olitics — in 
a  bad  sense — alone,  and  voted  hitelligently,  as  com- 
mon-sense citizens  availing  themselves  of  the  aid 
thus  offered  to  promote  the  material  interests  of 
all  classes,  the  result  might  have  been  far  different. 
As  it  is,  the  progress  of  the  entire  South  has  been 
retarded  many  years,  because  of  this  insane  hostility 
to  citizens  from  the  Northern  States  settling  among 
them  and  exercising  their  rights  as  intelligent  free- 
men. The  only  explanation  of  this  infatuation  is 
in  the  fact  that,  pei-haps  nine-tenths  of  the  more 
active  leaders  of  the  Rebellion  were  mere  politicians 
— not  statesmen — and   who,  after   its   close,  were 


2'Sb  POIATICAI.   IWliTlES. 

actuali'tl  l»y  ii«i  hijjjlu'r  ])atri()lism  lliaii  the  ac'cjuisi- 
tion  of  political  j>o\vi'r,  to  attain  wiiich  they  artiliated 
with  the  leaders  of  the  Demoeraey  in  the  Northern 
States.  This  lioi)C  had  already  dawned,  for  after 
their  terrible  losses  at  Gettyshuru:,  Vicksburi;,  and 
Port  Hudson  in  July,  1803,  the  jtolitical  leaders  in 
control  of  the  Rebellion  still  lield  out  because,  it 
would  seem,  they  hoped  the  Democratic  ])arty  would 
elect  a  president  in  18G4,  whose  candidate,  it 
turned  out,  "  was  regarded  as  more  favorable  to 
the  Southerners"  {Life  of  Lee,  p.  291).  The 
Southern  leaders  had  scarcely  ever  actively  engaged 
in  the  ordinary  business  of  life  or  in  personal  labor, 
and  to  them  it  must  have  been  exceedingly  irksome 
as  well  as  difficult  to  earn  their  bread  by  the  "  sweat 
of  their  faces ; "  they  naturally  ij)referred  to  live  by 
])olitics,  and  the  emoluments  of  office,  since  the  un- 
requited toil  of  slaves  was  no  longer  available. 

A  Better  "Way. — On  the  other  hand  were  thous- 
ands and  thousands  of  blameless  men  and  women, 
reduced  by  the  results  of  the  war  from  affluence  to 
poverty.  Their  lands  remained,  but  their  slaves 
that  cultivated  them  were  gone,  and  they  themselves 
were  compelled  to  labor  for  subsistence.  To  them 
the  change  was  equally  great,  but  they  displayed 
under  their  misfortunes  remarkable  energy  and  self- 
reliance,  for  which  noble  traits  they  have  won  the 
regard  and  sympathy  of  every  true  and  generous- 
hearted  man  and  woman  in  the  Northern  States. 
They  went  to  work  and  did  not  waste  their  time 
looking  to  a  recent  disloyal  faction  in  the  loyaP 


SOUTHERNERS  AS  STATESMEN.  239 

States  to  aid   them    in    regaining   political    influ- 
ence. 

It  is  strange  the  ex-leaders  of  the  Rebellion  did 
no^  recognize  in  all  its  bearings,  the  fact  that  the 
sla^^es  had  become  free,  and  they  had  been  given 
the  privilege  of  suffrage,  as  a  matter  of  expediency, 
as  well  as  of  necessity,  in  order  that  they  might 
protect  themselves  from  unjust  laws,  the  form  in 
which  their  oppressions  would  be  the  more  likely 
to  come  {American  People.,  pp.  1,036,  1,040).  The 
freedmen  were  in  their  midst  and  must  remain ; 
they  could  not  be  driven  away,  nor  was  it  desirable ; 
they  were  absolutely  essential,  so  long  as  the  special 
agricultural  products  of  the  South  were  to  be  cul- 
tivated. The  true  and  common-sense  policy  for 
these  ex-leaders  was  to  make  the  best  of  the  situa- 
tion ;  encourage  the  freedman  and  his  children,  as 
Avell  as  the  children  of  the  jioor  whites,  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  advantages  of  education — never 
enjoyed  before — as  now  provided  in  the  free  schools, 
introduced  through  the  influence  of  the  National 
government.  These  people  could  at  once  have 
been  put  in  the  way  of  bettering  their  condition, 
and  consequently  in  time  have  become  better  edu- 
cated, and  more  competent  to  take  their  part  in 
industrial  pursuits,  such  as  working  in  mills  and 
factories,  as  well  as  engaging  more  intelligently  and 
more  successfully  in  farming  and  planting.  How 
much  wiser  would  have  been  the  policy  of  trying 
to  elevate  all  classes  of  the  community  by  the  various 
means   of   education   thus   afforded,  than    that   of 


'J40  roi.lTK'M.    J'Ah"J'JJ:S. 

j»l:uiiiij  iin|)i'tliiiu'nts  in  tlie  way  «»f  llio  general  ]irog- 
ress  of  lliat  section  of  the  country,  by  not  protecting 
the  freednien  in  their  effort  to  iinj)rove,  and  l>y 
<liscouraging  intelligent  and  industrious  immigrants 
from  the  States,  where  common  schools  had  had 
their  due  inlluence.  It  is  more  than  j)ro1>able  from 
indications  ])revalent  for  some  time  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  that  the  ex-Confederate  leaders,  with 
but  few  exceptions,  would  have  acce])ted  the  situa- 
tion, and  have  fallen  in  with  the  designs  of  the  gov. 
ernment  to  aid  the  peoj)le  in  every  way  consistent 
with  its  authority,  had  they  not  come  under  the 
malign  influence  already  noticed. 

The  Present  Policy. — We  can  only  conjecture 
what  "  it  might  have  been  "  if  Mr,  Lincoln's  life 
had  been  sj tared  ;  what  he  could  have  accomplished 
by  means  of  his  wonderful  ])ower  of  conciliating  men 
of  different,  and  even  hostile  views  and  theories. 
He  had  ins])ired  confidence  in  his  integrity,  tact,and 
goodness  of  heart,  not  only  among  his  immediate 
friends,  but  among  his  political  opponents  in  the  loyal 
States,  and  even  of  those  then  in  arms  against  the 
government,  the  more  thoughtful  had  come  to  ap- 
preciate these  peculiar  traits,  and  after  his  death  had 
recognized  under  the  circumstances,  that  they  had 
lost  their  best  friend.  He  would  have  drawn  around 
him  the  leading  men  of  the  South — not  the  incorrigi- 
l)le  politicans — but  such  minds  as  Robert  E.  Lee,  A. 
H.  Stevens,  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar  and  others  of  influence  in 
that  class,  and  no  doubt  he  would  soon  have  had  the 
sympathy  of  the  intelligent  and  patriotic  among  the 


SOUTHEIiNERS  AS  STATESMEN.  241 

non-political  portion  of  the  Southern  people.  The 
hitter  had  already  begun  to  suspect  they  had  been 
grossly  deceived  by  their  leading  politicians  Avho  rep- 
resented the  non-political  peo])le  of  the  North  as 
being  for  the  most  part  hostile  in  feeling  toward 
their  southern  brethren.  It  was  well  known  in  the 
North  that  the  great  majority  of  the  latter  had  been 
oppos3d  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  Union,  but  after 
the  war  commenced  human  nature  asserted  itself 
and  they  determined  to  fight,  and  they  did  it  bravely 
too.  Meanwhile,  the  extreme  doctrines  of  State 
Rights  were  harped  upon  so  much  that  they  finally 
came  to  believe  that  the  States  in  rebellion  had  a 
right  to  secede  from  the  Union  in  spite  of  the  pi*o- 
test  of  their  sisters.  But  under  what  doubtless 
would  have  been  the  conciliating  policy  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln had  he  lived,  the  game  afterward  entered  upon 
by  the  Democratic  leaders  of  the  North  Avith  the  ex- 
Confederates  of  the  South,  would  never  have  had  an 
existence. 

Johnson's  Plans.— During  the  space  of  about 
seven  months,  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  death  till  the  meet- 
ing of  Congress,  certain  influences  produced  results 
that  astonished  loyal  people,  and  equally  surprised 
the  members  of  Congress,  when  on  their  assembling, 
President  Johnson  announced  in  his  message  what 
he  had  done.  In  the  furtherance  of  his  "policy  of 
Restoration "  he  had  proposed  conditions  with 
which,  if  the  recently  rebellious  States  would  cora- 
))ly,  he  virtually  took  upon  himself  to  restore  them 
to  their  former  relat  ions  in  the  L^nion.     Consistently 


242  POLITICAL   IWHTIKS. 

•with  this  |>rt»i>ositittii,  he  had  vecoinmoiulcHl  the  elec- 
tion of  inembers  of  Congress  in  these  States,  and  also 
of  Legislatures,  the  latter  to  choose  United  States 
Senators,  that  all  niitjht  be  in  readiness  to  take  their 
}>laees  in  the  Congress  about  to  assemble.  For  this 
action  the  President  had  no  authority,  expressed  or 
implied  in  the  Constitution.  The  Executive  branch 
of  the  government  had  usurped  the  province  of  the 
Legislative.  We  cannot  here  go  into  detail  in  re- 
spect to  the  controversies  elicited  in  dealing  with  the 
questions  that  grew  out  of  the  war,  such  as  those 
pertaining  to  the  protection  of  the  Freednien  and 
their  descendants  as  well  as  others  equally  Important. 
{^American  People,  pp.  1035 — 1044.) 

"Who  -were  Responsible.— What  were  the  influ- 
ences to  which  alhision  has  been  made?  It  is  evi- 
dent that  x\ndrew  Johnson  would  never  have  taken 
the  position  he  did,  had  he  not  been  tampered  with 
by  Democratic  leaders,  backed  by  ex-Confederate 
politicians,  and  in  consequence  the  famous  "Resto- 
ration policy  "  would  never  have  been  announced, 
much  less  attempted  to  be  put  in  force,  had  he  not 
been  Tylerized.  Here  is  the  germ  of  the  irritations 
which  grew  up  during  his  administration,  and  the 
Kepublican  leaders,  in  defence  of  their  policy  of 
"Reconstruction,"  denounced  him  as  the  organ  and 
representative  of  the  clearly  defined  combination  of 
the  recent  disloyal  faction  of  the  Democratic  leaders 
in  the  Xorth  with  the  ex-Confederates  m  the  South. 
Had  it  not  been  for  this  combination,  so  patent  to 
all  intelligent  readers  of  the  time,  the  many  harsh 


SOrrilERNERS  AS  STATESMEN.  213 

6])eec'lies  in  Congress  in  respect  to  the  ox-Confede- 
rate leaders  and  their  Northern  allies,  would  never 
have  been  made.  On  the  contrary,  the  danger 
loomed  up,  that  nearly  all  that  the  war  had  gained 
for  humanity  and  the  prospective  advancement  of 
the  Nation,  was  about  to  be  virtually  lost  under  the 
guise  of  "Restoration,"  in  accordance  with  which 
no  guarantee  was  given  that  the  Freedmen  and  their 
descendants  would  not  have  been  continued  in  a 
condition  of  vassalage  little  less  than  that  of  the 
olden  time — save  they  could  not  be  bought  and  sold. 
In  proof  of  this  general  statement,  may  be  cited  the 
laws  passed  by  several  Southern  Legislatures,  that 
were  elected  in  accordance  with  President  Johnson's 
recommendation,  and  who  expected  that  his  theory 
of  "  Restoration "  would  be  fully  carried  out. 
(McPherson's  Handbook  of  Politics,  i)p.  29-44. 

This  great  wrong  was,  however,  prevented  by  a 
Republican  Congress  adopting  over  President 
Johnson's  vetoes  the  theory  of  "Reconstruction," 
by  means  of  Avhich  the  Freedmen  were  made  voters 
in  order  they  might  have  a  voice  in  making  the 
laws  under  which  they  and  their  children  wore  to 
live,  and  this  right  was  guaranteed  to  them  as  far 
as  could  be  done  under  the  circumstances.  The 
Freedman  could  now  enter  upon  his  now  relations 
^s  a  citizen,  encouraged  by  the  hope  of  success  if  he 
himself  made  the  jn-oper  exertion.  How  different 
would  be  his  condition  to-day  if  the  leaders  of  the 
Democracy  had  had  their  way.  It  is  almost  univer- 
sally conceded  that,  in  the  main,  it  is  better  that 


L'44  rol.lTlCM.    I'AHTIKS. 

these  States  were  brouglit  back  on  the  iir'meiplc  of 
inakin<:f  the  colored  people  citizens,  and  then  training 
the  latter  by  education  to  fill  well  their  part,  than  to 
have  deprived  them  of  such  j)rivilege  and  launched 
them  forth  without  an  incentive,  only  to  be  kept  in 
ignorance  and  to  toil,  subjected  to  the  caprice  of 
those  who  employed  them,  and  to  live  under  laws 
that  thev  had  no  hand  in  making. 

The  Mistakes. — In  the  light  of  political  history 
we  can  see  that  many  mistakes  were  made  on  both 
sides  at  the  close  of  the  war;  the  Republicans  were 
not  free  from  error,  neither  were  the  Northern 
Democrats,  while  the  Southern  leaders  failed  in  not 
repudiating  the  disloyal  faction  in  the  North,  and 
instead,  falling  in  with  the  progressive  element 
among  the  Northern  people,  whose  heart  began  at 
once  to  manifest  sympathy  for  their  Southern 
brethren,  and  were  willing,  and  even  anxious,  to 
let  bygones  be  really  bygones,  and  to  aid  in  recuper- 
ating the  wasted  material  strength  of  the  South. 


xxxrv. 

CASTE,  AS   A  POLITICAL  FORCE. 

Glass  Antagonisms. — Immense  injury  has  often 
been  done  to  the  kindly  and  sympatlietic  feeling 
that  ought  to  and  would  naturally  exist  among  the 
American  people,  by  the  influence  of  certain  polit- 
cal  leaders  in  arraying  one  portion  of  the  community 
against  another,  especially  to  incite  the  uneducated 
and  the  class  that  works  for  wages,  against  the 
educated  and  those  who  employ  workpeople.  To 
that  custom,  thus  persisted  in,  may  be  attributed 
nearly  all  the  unreasonable  and  dangerous  class 
antagonism — especially  in  the  cities  among  the 
)>eople.  This  feeling  is  more  than  usually  injurious 
to  a  nation  constituted  like  ours,  where  popular  will 
governs,  as  the  unthinking  are  so  liable  to  be  led 
astray  by  designing  men  under  the  guise  of  patriot- 
ism, Avhen  they  are  only  partisans.  Under  a  mon- 
archy or  kingly  rule,  where  the  authority  is  outside 
the  mass  of  the  people,  it  would  be  different,  but 
here,  where  all  are  equal  as  citizens  in  their  rights 
and  privileges,  the  injury  is  much  greater  and  more 
dangerous.  The  Democratic  clubs — in  the  origin 
of  the  party — were  very  effective  in  exciting  preju- 
dice against  the  Federalists  or  supporters  of  Wash- 


240  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

\n^\o\\^  ndiniiiistiMtitiii  by  stipiinti/ing  thcin  as 
Aristocrat.'^.  TiKlecil,  so  much  has  bctMi  made  of 
what  tlioy  call  in  contrast  democratic  equality,  as 
to  give  the  impression  that  there  is  a  merit  in  being 
slovenly  dressed  .and  vulgar  in  habits;  this  may 
explain  in  some  measure,  why  the  rough  and  rowdy 
elements  of  society,  for  the  most  part,  gravitate 
toward  the  Democracy — though,  Avhatever  the  ex- 
planation, the  fact  remains. 

This  antagonistic  feeling  between  classes  in  the 
community,  has  been  inspired  and  increased  by  the 
same  influence  as  shown  in  political  speeches  and 
manifestoes  in  platforms  of  their  Conventions,  both 
State  and  National.  The  spirit  has  been  the  same 
at  all  times,  and  has  been  exhibited  on  all  occasions 
for  a  purpose ;  for  instance,  directly  or  indirectly, 
representing  the  well-to-do  classes  of  the  commmiity 
as  hostile  to  those  of  limited  means — es])ecially  if 
the  former  were  manufacturers  and  emjdoyed  \\\c 
latter.  To  fan  into  flame  what  latent  hostility  there 
may  be  among  different  classes  in  American  society, 
has  been  the  systematized  ])lan  of  the  leaders, 
especially  wdien  a  president  is  to  be  elected  or  Con- 
gressmen chosen.  This  influence  is  by  no  means 
exerted  by  all  their  speakers  and  writers,  yet  it  is 
unquestionably  true  that  a  majority  of  them,  Avhat- 
ever  the  motive  may  be,  do  prejudice  the  unenlight- 
ened by  such  misrepresentations.  The  National 
Congress  having  the  control  of  the  affairs  of  the 
country  in  its  general  intercourse  with  other  nations, 
and  also  in  respect  to  tariffs  and  financial  measures, 


CASTE,   AS  A  POLITIOAL  FOROE.      247 

that  affect  the  interests  of  all  classes  ;  the  Presiden- 
tial  canvass  calls  forth  more  than  usual  the  energies 
of  parties ;  and  measures  of  doubtful  propriety  in 
both  cases  are  sometimes,  sad  to  say,  resorted  to. 

The  term  Aristocrat,  as  we  have  seen,  was  applied 
for  a  purpose  to  the  Federal  party,  which  supported 
the  policy  of  Washington's  administration,  but  this 
term  of  reproach  lost  its  poM^er  as  time  wore  along, 
and  the  prejudices  agamst  the  aristocracy  of  Eng- 
land began  to  fade  away.  Meanwhile  another  gen- 
eration had  come  on  the  stage  of  action.  A  polit- 
ical oi-ganization  had  grown  up  during  these  years, 
which,  because  of  the  elements  that  composed  it, 
became  the  successor  of  the  old  Federal  party.  This 
organization  assumed  the  name  of  Whig,  and  within 
its  fold  were  found  at  that  day,  great  numbers  of 
the  most  progressive  and  intelligent  portion  of  the 
Nation.  They  were  the  advocates  of  every  improve- 
ment that  could  be  introduced  to  benefit  the  country 
in  its  industries  and  general  development.  They 
were  in  the  main  well  to  do  in  a  worldly  way ;  they 
thought  for  themselves,  and  had  no  great  mass  of 
the  unenlightened  to  follow  them  and  vote  for  their 
measures,  right  or  wrong.  This  very  independency 
of  thought  caused  them  to  differ  frequently  among 
themselves  in  resj^ect  to  measures  of  public  policy, 
yet  they  would  never  compromise  with  cliques  nor 
coquette  with  them  to  secure  their  votes.  Under 
these  circumstances,  it  was  only  when  the  glaring 
mistakes  of  their  opponents,  as  a  j^arty,  were  obvious 
to  nearly  every  one,  that  the  Whigs  obtained  con- 


24S  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

trol  of  the  Natioiuil  (iovcrnniont,  and  when  great 
numbers  of  the  intelligent  and  independent  Dem- 
ocrats voted  with  them.  For  instance,  the  numer- 
ous mistakes  the  latter  made  in  relation  to  the 
finances  of  the  country,  which  led  to  the  great  com- 
mercial revulsion  in  1837,  enabled  the  Whigs  to 
succeed ;  the  latter  having  persistently  opi>osed 
these  measures  and  foretold  the  results  which  fol- 
lowed. 

The  True  Aristocracy. — The  lower  grade  of 
political  leaders  likewise  often  apply  the  term  aristo- 
crat a^^  nickname  to  those  holding  in  society  a  higher 
social  position  than  themselves.  This  is  designed 
to  excite  the  prejudice  of  that  class  which,  perhaps, 
by  no  fault  of  its  own,  has  not  yet  attained  to  a 
similar  social  position.  Instead  of  stimulating  these 
envious  feelings  in  the  latter,  would  it  not  be  more 
])atriotic  to  encourage  them  in  laboring  by  industry 
and  correct  moral  dejiortment,  to  attain  for  them- 
selves as  high  a  grade  of  excellence  as  jiossible,  and 
by  their  example  and  influence,  aid  their  children  to 
reach  a  plane  still  higher?  Above  all  price  is  the 
aristocracy  of  that  family,  in  whom  are  blended  the 
physical  and  moral  characteristics  which,  in  the 
course  of  generations,  become  the  outgrowth  of  an 
upright  ancestry.  This  is  a  higher  grade  of  excel- 
lence than  has  ever  been  possessed  or  even  claimed 
by  the  so-called  aristocracies  of  the  Old  World  ; 
because  it  is  based  on  moral  and  intellectual  worth 
and  will  command  the  respect  of  the  bad,  and 
attract  the  love  of  the  good.     Its  ranks  are  open  to 


CASTE,  AS  A  POLITICAL  FORCE.  '2i9 

all  those  worthy  of  the  honor,  and  the  qualifications 
are,  in  time,  within  the  reach  of  all — poor  and  rich. 
An  aristocracy  of  that  character  is  worthy  of  any 
people,  as  it  is  based  on  the  eternal  principles  or 
truth  and  excellence,  while  against  it  will  be 
arrayed  the  prejudices  of  the  vicious  alone.  Such 
unreasonable  antagonism  can  be  remoAcd  but  in  one 
Avay,  by  improving  the  moral  tone  of  the  morally 
low  classes  of  the  community.  How  much  better  it 
would  be  if  political  leaders  would  make  efforts  to 
raise  the  standard  of  morals  and  education  among 
those  classes,  than  cajole  them  in  order  to  secure 
their  influence  at  the  polls. 

Prejudice  and  Nicknames. — In  the  presidential 
canvass  of  1844,  two  definite  plans  of  operation  was 
adopted  by  the  leaders  of  the  Democracy :  one  to 
introduce  the  slavery  question,  another  to  secure 
the  vote  of  an  influential  Free-Labor  State  (already 
noticed,  p.  117),  the  third,  from  the  efforts  that  were 
made  we  are  justified  in  inferring  was  to  prej^rdice 
the  laboring  classes  against  those  who  employed 
them.  This  very  injurious  phase  of  electioneering 
was  then  carried  on  to  an  extent  never  witnessed 
before.  For  illustration,  the  Irishman  leaves  his 
native  isle  with  strong  prejudices  against  the 
English  people  and  their  government,  and  he  finds 
in  this  land  of  his  ado]>tion  certain  political  leaders 
so  far  professing  to  sympathize  with  him  in  this 
antagonism,  that  he  is  confirmed  in  his  original 
prejudices,  and  is  led  to  imagine  that  those  who 
employ  him  here  are  as  much  his  enemies  aa  he 
deemed  his  employers  were  in  hir  native  lawd. 


'J5(>  rol.lTlCM.    I'AHTIKS. 

Silk  stocking  Gentry.— In  the  tiini'  oi  Jack- 
eon's  ])rosi(U'nc'y,  wliilc  the  contest  was  ragincj  in 
respect  to  tlie  United  States  Bank,  tlie  business 
men,  merchants,  and  bankers — those  who  had  had 
exi)erience  in  financial  affairs — who  were  in  favor  of 
chartering  the  bank  as  a  measure  of  commercial  im- 
portance to  the  business  of  the  M'hole  people — were 
characterized  as  the  "  7nonet/ed  poicer,''''  with  the 
implication  that  they  were  the  enemies  of  the 
"  poor  man "  who  worked  for  wages.  Of  course 
this  led  the  Irishmen  to  vote  the  ticket  of  the  party 
to  which  his  employei-  was  ojiposed — the  latter  for 
the  much  greater  portion  being  Whigs. 

The  Democratic  leaders  put  themselves  forward 
in  this  canvass  (1844)  as  the  special  friends  of  the 
"  poor  man,"  for  whom  their  hearts  went  out  in 
sympathy,  while  the  Whigs,  whom  they  now  styled 
"  The  Silk  Stocking  Gentry,"  they  represented  as 
the  enemies  of  the  workingman,  and  charged  them 
with  gi-owing  rich  out  of  the  toil  of  those  whom 
they  employed.  These  epithets,  which  took  the 
place  of  the  "  aristocrat "  of  the  earlier  days,  had 
their  effect,  and  were  evidently  chosen  for  the 
express  purpose  of  prejudicing  especially  the  for- 
eign poor  and  ignorant  against  the  well-to-do  and 
the  intelligent.  It  was  really  an  insult  to  the  self- 
respect  of  those  who  worked  for  wages,  to  attempt 
to  influence  them  by  using  such  epithets.  The 
result  showed  they  were  thus  influenced,  as,  for  the 
most  part,  they  voted  for  the  Democracy,  and,  as 
it  proved  in  the  end,  against  their  own  interests, 
but  in  obedience  to  the  behests  of  their  leaders. 


CASTE  AS  A  POLITICAL  FOIiCE.         251 

Locofoco — Bourbon. — One  nickname — "  Loco- 
foco" — was  current  for  a  number  of  years,  but  it 
had  no  political  significance  outside  the  party,  as  it 
was  not  given  by  the  Whigs  but  by  one  faction  of 
the  Democracy  to  another.  There  existed  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  on  some  points  in  the  famous 
society  known  as  "  Tammany."  A  meeting  of  the 
society  had  been  called  (October  29,  1835),  and  the 
regulars,  as  they  termed  themselves,  secretly  gained 
admission  to  the  hall  by  a  side  door,  before  the  hour 
appointed  for  the  meeting.  The  other  faction 
coming  at  the  designated  time,  found  their  brethren 
in  possession  and  a  meeting  organized.  The  new 
comers,  being  in  the  majority,  made  short  work 
with  the  jjrogress  of  the  session,  by  outvoting  its 
members.  The  regulars  were  forced  to  retire, 
meanwhile,  before  leaving,  they  shut  off  the  gas, 
and  the  others,  perhaps  anticipating  such  a  result, 
came  provided  with  candles  and  "  loco-foco 
matches,"  which  enabled  them  to  strike  a  light  and 

organize  their   meetino;   and  nominate  their  candi- 
es o 

dates.  The  regulars  took  their  revenge  by  nick- 
naming their  opponents  "  Locofocos."  The  term 
"Bourbon,"  as  used  to-day,  also  originated  within 
the  party  itself. 

Black  Republicans. — The  Free-Soil  Democrats 
and  liberal  AVliigs  united  in  a  new  political  organi- 
zation under  the  name  of  Republican  (1855),  This 
]>arty  wished  by  legal  and  just  measures  to  prevent 
the  extension  of  slavery  to  the  territories,  lest  it 
should  prove  to  them    in    future    generations,    the 


252  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

moral  ami  ecoiioniical  riirse  it  had  been  to  tl\e  then 
slave-hoKlinjjc  States.  To  excite  prejudice  against 
this  new  jiarty  the  Democratic  leaders  at  once,  and 
with  one  consent,  characterizecl  it  as  Black  Repnb* 
lica/t.  This  opprobrious  and  suggestive  nickname 
was  purposely  chosen,  as  the  object  was  to  secure 
influence  with  those  who  were  unable  from  their 
want  of  knowledge  to  fully  understand  the  vast  im- 
j>ortance  of  the  questions  at  issue.  It  shows  the 
cunning  of  these  leaders,  inasmuch  as  that  epithet, 
under  the  circumstances,  had  an  iinuiense  influence 
upon  certain  classes  of  their  followers,  and  induced 
thousands  to  vote  their  ticket,  and  meanwdule  de- 
terred other  thousands  from  voting  with  their  op- 
ponents. 

Recent  Efforts. —  In  later  years  we  have  seen  the 
same  political  organization  endeavoring  to  prejudice 
the  laboring  man  against  those  who  employ  him. 
The  favorite  epithets  used  being  :  "  Bloated  Bond- 
holders," "  Coupon-Clippers,"  "  Gold-Bugs,"  "  Blood- 
suckers," and  other  vulgar  terms,  while  those  who 
work  for  wages  were  characterized  by  one  single 
term — the  "Downtrodden."  The  former  epithets 
were  applied  to  all  those  who  by  economy  and  in- 
dustry have  obtained  a  competency  of  this  world's 
goods.  Were  not  these  ignominious  nicknames 
designed  and  used  for  the  express  ])urpose  of  array- 
ing one  portion  of  the  community  against  another  ? 
Can  there  be  another  explanation  ?  What  intelli- 
gent reader  of  the  day  can  fail  to  divine  the  motive  ? 
Do  these  demagogues  credit  the  numerous  rich  men 


CASTE,  AS  A  POLITICAL  FORCE.  253 

thus  characterized,  with  the  immense  sums  they  have 
given  and  are  giving  to-day  for  the  purpose  of 
founding  or  aiding  institutions  of  learning,  in  which 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  those  of  limited  means 
can  receive  gratuitously  a  practical  education  ?  This 
antagonism,  thus  engendered  and  promoted,  of  the 
less  wealthy  against  the  well-to-do-classes,  is  an 
ominous  sign  of  future  evil ;  but  there  is  only  one 
political  organization  that  encourages  this,  and  as 
such  expects  to  profit  by  it.  The  capitalist,  instead 
of  being  characterized  as  an  enemy,  ought  to  be 
hailed  as  a  friend  of  the  working  man ;  since  he 
alone  furnishes  the  means  and  the  occasion  by  which 
the  latter  obtains  employment  and  derives  div- 
idends from  his  own  capital — his  skill  and  his  muscle. 
In  connection  with  this  may  be  noted  that  the 
great  majority  of  the  manufacturers  and  })rominent 
men  of  business  do  not — unless  in  theory — belong  to 
the  Democratic  party;  this  may  account  for  the 
worldly  wisdom  of  the  lower  grade  of  their  leaders, 
who  endeavor  to  create  antagonistic  feelings  between 
the  employers  and  those  employed.  To  be  sure,  it 
does  not  argue  much,  for  the  practical  wisdom  of 
the  working  men  that  they  j^ermit  themselves  to  be 
thus  fooled — that  they  are  thus  liable,  is  their  mis- 
fortune— but  how  are  we  to  estimate  the  position 
of  the  respectable  portion  of  a  political  organization, 
which  connives  at  taking  advantage  of  this  misfor- 
tune ;  and  appealing  to  the  meaner  instincts  of  human 
nature  in  order  to  array  one  class  of  the  people 
against  another,  and  thereby  gain  a  partisan  triumph? 


2.">4  I'Ol.lTlrAL   PARTI  lis. 

Evory  true  jKitriot  deprocatos  the  hostile  feeling 
of  one  portion  of  the  community  toward  another, 
when,  on  the  contrary,  their  mutual  benefits  dcj)end 
so  much  upon  good  will  toward  each  other.  What 
antagonism  there  may  exist  has  frequently  arisen 
from  sueh  misrepresentations  as  we  have  noted. 

Copperheads. — The  loyal  men,  originally  of 
both  parties,  must,  at  least,  plead  guilty  to  one 
charge  of  calling  naughty  names.  During  the 
Rebellion,  large  numbers  of  Northern  Democrats 
were  disloyal ;  that  is,  were  in  sympathy  more  or 
less  with  the  enemies  of  the  Union.  They  mani- 
fested their  zeal  in  underhand  and  secret  ways; 
such  as  exaggerating  every  reverse  of  the  Union 
arms  and  extolling  every  victory  of  the  so-named 
Confederates  ;  commending  the  skill  of  the  latter's 
commanders,  while  depreciating  that  of  the  Union 
generals.  They  labored  to  destroy  the  credit  of 
the  government,  and  when  it  wished  to  obtain 
money  by  issuing  bonds,  they  refused  to  buy  them, 
and  endeavored  to  discourage  others,  by  proclaim- 
ing the  bonds  would  never  be  paid.  If  they  had 
property,  which  the  government  in  its  emergency 
needed,  they  would  take  in  payment,  not  its  bonds, 
but  gold  ;  with  the  latter  the  more  astute  specu- 
lated, and  the  more  ignorant — expecting  the  Union 
to  go  to  pieces — kept  it  on  hand  till  they  were 
forced  to  admit  the  Nation  was  still  intact.  Some 
disloyal  editors,  by  means  of  personals  in  their 
papers,  made  the  latter  mediums  of  communication 
between  the  rebels  and  their  sjonpathizers  in  the 


CASTE,  AS  A  POLITICAL  FORCE.         255 

loyal  States  {Jacob  Thompsoii's  Report  to  Jeffer- 
son  Davis — dated  Dec.  3, 1864,  at  Toronto^  Canada. 
Thompson  was  Sec.  of  the  Interior  under  Such- 
anan.)  Many  of  these  gentlemen  engaged,  secretly, 
in  blockade-running ;  some  went  abroad,  princi- 
pally to  England,  to  carry  out  their  schemes  of 
making  money,  and  of  aiding  the  enemies  of  their 
own  country  by  furnishing  them  supplies.  One  of 
the  most  blatant  of  these  patriots  was  sent  by 
President  Lincoln  across  the  lines,  but  after  a  tima 
he  made  his  way  from  the  Confederacy  into  Canada, 
and  while  on  its  soil  was  nominated  by  the  Demo- 
cracy of  the  State  of  Ohio  for  the  office  of  governor. 
The  chief  leaders,  meanwhile,  were  proclaiming 
themselves  innocent  of  disloyalty,  in  truth  were  ill- 
treated,  were  martyrs,  and  were  complaining,  about 
illegal  arrests,  when  they  were  all  loose.  There  is 
found  in  some  states  a  serpent  in  its  nature  very 
poisonous — not  like  the  rattlesnake,  giving  warning 
of  its  presence,  but  concealed  in  the  grass  awaiting  the 
opportunity  to  sting  the  passer  by.  Was  it  strange 
that  the  indignant  loyal  men  of  the  time  character- 
ized these  secret  but  active  enemies  of  the  Union  as 
copperheads. 

Platforra  Statements. — The  Democracy  habit- 
ually word  their  platforms  in  such  manner  as  to 
give  the  impression  that  they  are  the  peculiar 
friends  of  the  "  poor  man."  As  a  case  in  point 
their  National  Convention  of  Cincinnati,  (June  24, 
1880)  adopted  the  following:  "The  Democratic 
party  is  the  friend  of  labor  and  of   the  laboring 


250  ruJ.lTlCAL    PARTIKt^. 

mail,  and  jiK-dgcs  itself  to  ])rotoot  him  alike  against 
the  cormorants  and  the  com  mane.''''  We  presume  it 
was  loft  to  their  orators  to  I'xplain  wliat  is  meant 
by  these  tico  enemies  of  the  j)oor  man  Avho  works 
for  wages.  Then  again  :  "  The  Democratic  party 
being  the  natural  friend  of  the  working  man,  and 
having  throughout  its  history  stood  beticeen  him 
and  oppression,  renews  its  expression  of  8)'m])athy 
with  labor  and  its  promise  of  protection  to  its  rights." 
[Dem.  Con.  of  Penna.,  April  29,  1880].  Many 
more  instances  might  be  cited  couched  in  similar 
terms.  These  statements  are  in  the  face  of  the 
facts  of  the  party's  history  in  respect  to  what  this 
"natural  friend  of  the  workman,"  has  done  for  the 
latter  in  times  jiast.  "Similar  assertions  have  been 
made,_and  that  systematically,  in  their  speeches, 
papers  and  platforms,  from  year  to  year,  and  un- 
fortunately, too  often,  the  unenlightened  working 
man  believes  them,  perhaps  because  they  are  so 
often  brought  to  his  notice.  While  the  close  reader 
of  our  political  history  has  seen  in  every  instance, 
w^here  measures  have  been  introduced  by  other 
parties,  which  were,  in  their  nature,  adapted  to  con- 
fer lasting  benefits  upon  the  Nation  at  large,  the 
Democratic  leaders  have  uniformly  throAvn  their  in- 
fluence against  them.  Facts,  on  the  other  hand,  con- 
clusively show  that  measures — such  as  cheap  postage, 
free  homes,  the  National  Banking  system,  return  to 
Specie  payments,  etc. — which  the  Democracy  stren- 
uously opposed,  have  proved  themselves  not  to  be 
merely  theoretical,  but  thoroughly  practical  in  their 


CASIE,  AS  A  POLITICAL  FORCE.  2bt 

good  results,  we  thus  find  the  political  organization 
that  has  been  the  most  clamorous  in  promises  of  de- 
votion to  the  special  interests  of  the  "poor  man," 
has  done  him  the  least  good. 

Dividends  Compared. — These,  so-called,  friends 
of  the  "poor  man,"  prejudice  the  wage-earners  by 
asserting  that  manufacturers  secure  for  themselves 
nearly  all  the  profits.  To  obtain  the  truth  of  this 
assertion,  we  must  ascertain  the  value  of  the  two 
classes  of  capital  invested,  and,  also,  the  proportion- 
ate incomes  from  each.  Suppose  we  estimate  the 
value  of  the  knowledge,  skill,  and  muscle  of  a  com- 
petent workman — that  is  his  capital — at  $10,000. 
He  gets,  when  he  works,  a  salary  of,  say,  $1,000, 
$1,500  or  $2,000  a  year  ;  that  would  be  10,  15,  or 
20  per  cent,  on  his  capital.  Wages  or  dividends  of 
workmen  are  graduated  from  the  highest  grade  to 
the  lowest,  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  their  skill 
and  muscle  when  properly  put  forth. 

Suppose  the  plant  of  a  factory  cost  $500,000,  that 
amount,  alone,  at  5  per  cent,  incurs  a  yearly  expense 
of  $25,000.  In  addition,  are  the  taxes,  the  raw  ma- 
terial, but  more  than  all,  the  wages  of  the  employes. 
These  expenses  must  be  met  before  the  manufact- 
urers can  declare  a  dividend.  Their  income  is  vari- 
able, since  it  depends  upon  many  contingencies,  but 
they  must,  however,  pay  the  wages  of  their  work- 
people. In  view  of  these  facts  does  not  the  capital 
invested  by  the  employed  pay  in  px'oportion  a  more 
certain  and  larger  dividend  than  that  of  the  em- 
ployer ? 


XXXV. 

PARTY  DISCIPLINE, 

Democratic  Devotion. — The  Democracy  has 
always  been  uiuler  llie  control  of  comj)aratively  few 
leaders — the  great  mass  following  imj)licitly.  Some- 
times a  limited  number  will  disagree  with  these 
leaders  in  res])ect  to  their  measures  or  ])olicy,  but 
they  are  soon  compelled  to  succumb.  The  thinking 
men,  who  thus  dare  differ,  are  brought  to  terms  by 
a  system  of  ostracism  unknown  in  other  political 
organizations.  The  latter  gentlemen  may  differ 
in  opinion  from  the  party  leaders  or  ])oliticians,  and 
as  we  have  seen  them  again  and  again,  even  express 
their  dissent  in  debate  or  by  writing,  yet,  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  when  the  time  comes  the  much 
greater  number  vote  with  the  party.  These 
daring  leaders  care  very  little  for  the  opposite  opin- 
ions expressed  by  this  small  number  of  the  member- 
ship. In  i)roof  of  this  statement  let  us  look  at  the 
question  of  the  National  finances ;  on  this  subject 
there  are  and  have  been  more  opinions  at  variance 
than  on  any  other.  Those  of  the  Democracy  en- 
gaged in  purely  financial  business,  such  as  bankers, 
brokers,  and  dealers  in  merchandise,  were  almost  to 
a  man  in  favor  of  the  finances  being  based  on  specie 
jiayments,  in  order  that  the  commerceof  the  country 


PAHTV  DISCIPLINE.  259 

niiglit  be  conducted  on  a  solid  basis,  and  be  free 
from  the  fluctuations  of  value,  which  passed  over 
from  the  times  of  the  Rebellion.  Yet  their  repre^ 
sentatives  in  Congress  voted  to  retard  this  resump- 
tion. Now  comes  the  marvel ;  the  gentlemen  just 
mentioned,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  supported 
these  same  men  when  re-nominated  to  Congress, 
notwithstanding  they  had  voted,  as  these  financiers 
thought,  in  a  manner  to  injure  the  business  of  the 
whole  country. 

The  demand  of  the  leaders,  that  the  members  of 
the  Democracy  should  vote  the  regular  ticket,  is  by 
no  means  limited  to  the  luiintelligent  of  the  party, 
it  is  well  understood  that  flinching  will  not  be  tol- 
erated on  the  day  of  election,  even  on  the  part  of 
those  who  are  well  informed.  The  latter  are  sub- 
jected to  a  social  ostracism  of  only  a  little  higher 
grade.  How  a  political  organization  could  wield 
such  power  over  its  members,  is  a  matter  of  aston- 
ishment to  those  who  are  self-respecting  and  unfa- 
miliar with  the  drill  and  demand  of  the  party  leaders. 
The  managers — often  virtually  self-constituted — of 
caucuses  and  conventions,  announce  principles  and 
nominate  candidates,  and  woe  to  the  member  who 
thinks  for  himself  and  dares  vote  independently. 
Hard-money  Democrats,  as  they  were  termed,  or 
those  in  favor  of  coming  back  to  specie  payments, 
were  among  the  most  thoughtful  and  intelligent 
of  the  party,  yet,  when  that  question  was  under 
discussion,  they  were  expected  at  the  dictation  of 
the  leaders  to  belie  the    principles   which   they  be- 


!>0(»  POLITICAL   PAHTIK^. 

liovi'd  to  l»o  tilt'  b(.'st  for  the  country.  Thus,  in  the 
State  of  Ohio  in  1879,  the  Democratic  Convention 
nominated  for  governor  a  famous  Grcenbacker  or 
JnHationist  in  spite  of  the  ])rotests  of  the  hard 
money  men  of  the  ])arty.  In  consequence,  much 
discussion  was  elicited  within  the  i)arty  itself.  Said 
Senator  Thurman,  one  of  the  most  influential  Dem- 
ocrats of  the  State,  in  speaking  of  these  hard  money 
men,  and  of  the  incongruity  of  the  nomination  : 
"  Undoubtedly,  a  great  many  Democrats  in  Ohio 
think  that  General  Ewing's  financial  views  are  un- 
sound, hut  when  the  day  of  election  conies  they  will 
be  found  voting  for  him,  and  it  is  the  votes  which 
count  on  that  day — not  opinions  "  {N".  Y.  Tribune^ 
Aug.  14,  1879).  Evidently  with  this  expectation 
the  nomination  was  made  and  hard  money  Demo- 
crats were  relied  upon  to  lay  aside  their  convictions 
of  duty,  their  self-respecting  manliness  and  vote, 
merely  for  a  partisan  gain,  in  support  of  the  prin. 
ciples  they  abominated. 

Contempt  for  Dissenters. — The  truth  is,  the 
leaders  of  the  Democracy  care  very  little  for  the 
occasional  dissent  from  their  policy,  by  some  of  the 
intelligent  members,  because  the  discussions  thus 
elicited  are  neither  heard  nor  read  by  the  great 
majority  of  the  voters  in  the  party.  The  latter,  it 
is  notoriously  known,  have  not  the  general  informa. 
tion  necessary  to  understand  the  bearings  of  many 
important  questions,  a  true  statement  of  which  sel- 
dom reaches  them.  This  class  of  persons  or  voters, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  very  seldom  change  their 
political  relations ;    when  once  they    commit    them 


PARTY  DISCIPLINE.  261 

selves  they  cling  with  tlic  greatest  tenacity  to  their 
party.  This  is  specially  true  of  certain  portions  of 
the  foreign  element,  because  captivated  by  the  term 
Democrat,  which  to  them  is  the  direct  opposite  of 
the  governments  they  have  known  in  their  old 
homes  ;  they  believe  in  the  mere  name  itself,  as  if  it 
had  some  mysterious  influence. 

These  leaders  assume  that  they  will  always  have 
the  su])port  of  that  large  class  of  foreigners  who  are 
in  the  habit  of  crowdhig  into  the  cities  and  along  the 
railways  i;ear  the  large  towns,  but  they  are  far  from 
being  so  confident  of  those  Avho  settle  as  farmers  in 
the  West  and  the  Northwest.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  headers  treat  with  contempt  those  Dem- 
ocrats who  hwe  the  rashness  to  differ  in  opinion 
from  the  matvifestoes  of  the  caucus,  or  reject  the 
nomination  of  candidates  in  their  conventions,  be- 
cause the  number  of  malcontents  is  usually  so  small 
that  they  can  ei)sily  s])are  them  from  the  ranks,  see- 
ing they  have  su.^ciont  supporters  in  this  unwaver- 
ing class.  In  fact,,  the  leaders  would  rather  not  have 
these  inquisitive  gentlemen  in  the  ranks  at  all ;  they 
want  implicit  obedience  to  caucus  dictation.  Indeed, 
these  troubleaorne  members — so  few  in  number  that 
their  absence  would  scarcely  be  missed,  and  their 
mfluence  over  the  ordinary  crowd  of  voters  not 
worth  mentioning — are  often  advised  to  succumb 
or  be  put  under  the  ban.  Free  and  frank  discussion 
of  current  political  questions  within  the  ranks  of 
the  Democracy  itself  would  be  injurious  to  the  or- 
ganization— hence  absolute  obedience  is  demanded 
of  ever/  member. 


2()2  VOUTICAL    r  ART  IKS. 

Control  of  the  Ignorant. — By  loaders  wo  menn 
the  politioiaiis  of  the  i):iity,  not  tlioso  oitizoiis  who 
in   theory  may  believe  in  its  dogmas,  but  do  not 
take  an  active  interest  in  polities,  or  even  in  politi- 
cal questions,  but  wish  honestly  for  the  good  of  the 
country   in   its  varied   interests.     The  former  class 
live  by  office  and  its  incidental  emoluments;  they 
are  the  many  who  for  tlieir  own  ends  bamboozle 
their  followers.     They  take  care  that  the  mass  of 
their  supj)orters  shall  loani  nothing  on  i)assing  dis- 
cussions  on  National    subjects,   cxcejit    what   they 
think  pro])er  to  put  before  them.     Lot  any  intelli- 
gent person  notice  the  statements  made  in  certain 
newspapers  in  the  cities  and  specially  designed  for 
the  enlightenment  of  the   mass  of  the  Democracy, 
and  he  will  be   astonished  at  the  bold    assertions, 
the  misre])resentations ;  and  garbled  extracts  in  re- 
lation to  current  opinions  and  facts,  that  are  fur- 
nished as  political  food  for  these  devotees.     By  this 
means  certain  voters  of  the  ]>arty  are  marvellously 
held  in  hand ;  should  one  of  them  vote  an  opposi- 
tion ticket,  he  loses  caste  at  once  among  his  fellows, 
especiall}'  is  this  true  in  respect  to  Irishmen,  who 
are  so  tightly  held  in  political  shackles.     If  the  in- 
vestigation is  carried  to  the  county  or  rural  papers 
of  the  ])arty,  the  facts  revealed  would  be  equally 
interesting  in  the  same  line. 

The  mass  of  these  voters,  though  uninitiated  as  to 
the  schemes  of  their  OAvn  ])oliticians,  mean  well,  but 
they  are  gr'ossly  deceived,  and  we  would  not  say  a 
word  to  wound  their  self-respect,  but  this  systema- 
tic  effort  to  kccji  them  \n  }>olitical  bondage,  and 


PAIiTY  DISCIPLINE.  263 

oftentimes,  as  we  have  seen,  induce  them  to  vote 
against  their  own  interests,  is  a  crime,  and  for  that 
reason  we  denounce  it  and  its  perpretrators. 

As  it  now  stands  the  unenlightened  voters  hold 
an  im]>ortant  position  of  power  between  the  intelli- 
gent voters  of  the  two  main  political  parties  of  the 
day — the  Democratic  and  Republican.  The  latter 
from  the  progress  that  springs  from  the  counsels  of 
thinking  and  active  men,  does  much  for  the  "  poor 
man"  in  advancing  the  industries  of  the  land,  and 
putting  the  business  of  the  country  on  a  firm  basis, 
thus  securing  permanent  good  results  and  employ- 
ment for  those  who  work  for  wages.  The  leaders 
of  the  former  have  not  so  good  a  record  ;  in  their 
crude  theories  and  legislation  up  to  1861,  they 
brought  distress  uj)on  the  business  of  the  country, 
about  every  ten  or  dozen  years  and  in  consequence 
turned  the  "poor  man  "  out  of  employment.  There 
has  not  been  a  time  of  great  financial  disturbance 
and  prostration  of  the  business  of  the  Nation  for 
twenty-five  years  preceding  1861,  but  can  be  traced 
directly  or  indirectly  to  the  crude  legislation  of  the 
Democracy.  No  student  of  our  history  need  be 
surprised  that  within  the  last  few  years  when  they 
were  in  control  of  the  lower  House  of  Congress, 
they  made  efforts  to  accomplish  legislation — for 
instance  voting  against  resumi)tion  of  Specie  pay- 
ment— on  financial  and  on  industrial  affairs,  which,  if 
they  had  succeeded,  would  have  been  of  great  and 
manifold  injury  to  the  material  progress  of  the 
entire  country. 


XXXYT. 

RESUMPTION  OF  SPECIE  PAYMENT. 

Assumptiors. — We  have  already  seen  the 
fhaiacteristic  maixeuvre  of  these  leaders  in  claiming 
for  themselves  the  credit  of  measures  that  proved 
beneficial  to  the  countiy.  They  have  also  actually 
claimed  the  merit  of  bringing  about  specie  pay- 
ments in  1879,  and  that  in  the  face  of  their  most 
persistent  efforts  to  prevent  it.  Since  resumption 
has  been  a  triumphant  success,  as  seen  in  the  in- 
crease of  business  and  confidence  in  conmiercial 
circles,  these  leaders  })roclaim  to  their  followers 
that  specie  payments  would  not  have  taken  place 
had  it  not  been  for  their  support.  Said  one  of  their 
prominent  ])olitieal  managers  : — "  It  was  due  to  the 
support  of  a  Democratic  Congi-ess  that  Resumption 
was  mads  possible;"  and  he  adds:  "the  party  has 
always  been  a  hard  money  party,  considered  in 
general,"  (K  V.  Tribune,  Aug.  22  or  23,  1879.) 
Had  that  gentleman  forgotten  that  when  the  act  of 
Resumption  was  ])assed  it  was  opposed  by  every 
member  of  his  party  in  Congress  who  voted  on  it ; 
while  at  the  same  time  the  bill  was  passed,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  authorized  to  make 
the   necessary  arrangements  ;  all  of  which   was  as 


HESUMPTIOX  OF  SPECIE  PAYMEXT.      205 

btrenuously  opposed  ?  This  mere  assumption  by  one 
prominent  leader  would  have  little  influence  were 
it  not  calculated  to  deceive  the  unenlightened, 
meanwhile,  the  leaders,  if  the  measures  which  they 
opjiosed  turn  out  well  and  become  a  blessing  to  the 
land,  do  not  hesitate  in  a  quiet  way  to  claim 
them  as  their  own.  In  truth,  since  resumption  has 
been  a  success  and  business  has  revived,  they  have 
no  alternative  but  to  acknowledge  they  made  a  mis- 
take. 

Business  would  not  have  revived  had  it  not  been 
for  the  confidence  inspired  by  the  knowledge  that 
the  Secretary  was  accumulating  coin  in  the  Treasury 
to  meet  the  emergency  on  January  1,  1879.  The 
abundant  crops  aided  the  cause,  but  they  would  not 
of  themselves  have  been  sufficient  had  there  not  been 
proper  management  and  careful  preparation  to  meet 
the  demand  on  the  Treasury.  This  foresight  ena- 
bled the  government  to  secure  the  advantages  de- 
rived from  the  balance  of  trade  being  in  our  favor. 
Could  all  this  have  been  brought  about  if  the  leaders 
of  the  Democracy,  both  in  Congress  and  outside  as 
represented  by  their  press,  had  been  able  to  prevent 
the  Resumption  Bill  becoming  a  law  or  had  been 
able  to  repeal  it? 

As  the  business  of  the  country  has  been  improving 
more  and  more  since  we  came  back  to  specie  pay- 
ments, and  the  prospect  that  a  large  amount  of  our 
immense  grain  crops,  and  food  in  the  form  of  dairy 
products,  beef  and  cattle,  etc,  will  continue  to  be 
sent  abroad,  the  leaders  are  at  a  loss  how  to  make 


26G  POLITICAL    FAIiTlh:^. 

this  unparalU'lc'd  success  available  politically.  They 
proclaim  they  were  always  in  favor  of  honest  or  hard 
money  "in  general,"  but  not  precisely  \n  fpAorofthe 
manner  in  which  the  business  of  the  Nation  has  at 
length  reached  a  coin  basis. 

Our  great  skill  and  recent  success  in  manufactures 
may  be  traced,  in  ]>art,  to  the  fact  that  they  liave 
not  been  so  much  disturbed  as  usual  by  the  hostile 
feeling  toward  them  manifested  by  the  leaders  of  the 
Democracy  who  have  again  and  again  endeavored 
to  tinker  but  ineffectually  the  tariff  in  the  interest 
of  "for  revenue  only."  They  appear  to  be  anxious  to 
secure  a  portion  of  the  credit  of  this  industrial  pros- 
perity ;  why  not  claim  that  had  it  not  been  for  the 
Rebellion,  brought  on  by  the  Southern  wing  of  the 
Democracy  and  connived  at  by  many  of  their  leaders 
in  the  Free-Labor  States,  there  would  have  been  no 
necessity  for  the  imposition  of  duties  so  heavy  upon 
foreign  imports  in  order  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
war — thus  they  themselves  have  indirectly  occa- 
sioned the  building  up  of  our  magnificent  system  of 
industrial  pursuits. 

Resumption. — The  Resumption  Act  passed  Con- 
gress in  January  1875  ;  it  required  the  government 
to  resume  specie  payments  on  Jan.  1,  1879 — four 
years  later.  This  act  was  voted  against  by  every 
Democratic  member  in  Congress  ;  and  thus  it  was 
literally  a  measure  of  the  Republicans.  Afterward 
the  former  i)arty  attaining  a  majority  in  the  House 
of  Rejjresentatives,  passed  a  bill  to  repeal  this  law; 
but  not  having  a  like  majority  in  the  Senate,  they 


POLITICAL  TUADJXa.  267 

failed,  and  two  months  before  they  had  the  requisite 
number  in  tlie  latter,  resum])tion  had  taken  place. 
That  the  whole  Democratic  party,  as  such,  was  op- 
posed to  the  resumption  of  specie  payments,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  following  as  found  in  the  platform  of 
their  convention  held  in  St.  Louis  (June  28,  1876)  : 
"  we  denounce  the  financial  imbecility  of  that  party 
[Republican]  which,  while  annually  professing  to 
intend  a  speedy  return  to  specie  payments,  has 
annually  enacted  fresh  hindrances  thereto.  As 
such  a  hindrance  we  denounce  the  resumption 
clause  of  the  Act  of  1875,  and  we  here  demand  its 
repeal."  The  Greenback  party  had  previously 
(May  16,  1876)  said  in  convention;  "we  demand 
the  immediate  and  unconditional  repeal  of  the 
specie  resumption  Act  of  1875."  As  to  the  result, 
the  day  after  the  original  Act  was  signed  by  Presi- 
dent Grant,  the  premium  on  gold  began  to  diminish, 
and  thus  continue  till  on  Jan.  1,  1879  it  vanished. 

Retarding  Resumption. — These  leaders  evi- 
dently retarded  resumption  for  a  time,  by  their  con- 
tinued attempts  to  interfere  in  various  ways  with 
the  finances,  thus  lessening  that  confidence  in  busi- 
ness transactions  so  essential  to  commercial  pros- 
perity. Though  the  crops  of  the  country  were 
abundant,  and  our  immense  exports  caused  the 
balance  of  trade  to  be  in  our  favor — one  of  the  eli'- 
ments  in  the  country's  preparations  for  resumption 
— these  facts  seem  not  to  have  diminished  the  in- 
tense hostility  of  the  Democratic  leaders  to  the  re- 
sumption of  specie  payments  and  the    consequent 


268  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

revival  of  tra<le.  It  would  seem  that  they  thought 
their  only  hope  in  the  success  of  the  coming  elec- 
tions (in  1878-1880,  was  in  the  depression  of  the 
business  of  the  country.  Thus  we  may  infer  from 
the  freijuent  assertions  of  Democratic  news])a])ers 
and  speakers  that  the  country  was  going  to  -uin, 
and  that  a  change  in  the  National  administration 
was  the  only  remedy.  It  is  strange  that  these 
leaders  did  not  recognize  the  fact  that  the  business 
of  the  country  had  been  gradually  im])roving  from 
the  day  that  the  premium  on  gold  began  to  go 
down — this  latter  fact  alone  was  an  evidence  of  the 
improvement  in  mercantile  affairs.  During  this 
period  of  four  years  the  Democratic  politicians  were 
playing  fast  and  loose  wnth  the  infiationists  or 
Greenback  organization.  Many  of  their  members 
of  Congress  were  in  favor  of  hard  money  or  specie 
payments,  yet,  sti-ange  as  it  seems  to  the  indepen- 
dent and  self-respecting  these  gentlemen  voted  in 
accordance  with  the  dictation  of  the  caucus  of  the 
majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Here 
was  a  measure,  which,  according  to  the  experience 
of  the  past,  would  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  country,  yet  at  the  behest  of  the  caucus, 
the  majority  of  which  were  ex-Confederates,  they 
voted  against  it. 

How  can  we  account  for  this  persistent  opposi- 
tion to  resumi)tion  of  specie  payments  ?  First : 
could  it  be  that — contrary  to  all  experience — they 
believed  resumption  would  be  injurious  to  the  pros- 
perity   of  the  country?  or  Second:  did   thev.  be- 


POLITICAL  TRADING.  269 

believing  resumption  would  be  financially  beneficial 
to  the  people,  vote  against  the  measure  and  also  to 
repeal  it,  l)ecause  if  its  principless  were  carried  out, 
it  would  redound  to  the  popularity  of  their  politi- 
cal opponents,  who  had  proposed  and  enacted  the 
law ; — for  moreover  it  would  go  into  effect  nearly 
two  years  before  the  presidential  election  in  1880. 
In  justice  to  their  integrity  as  patriotic  men,  we 
must  assume  they  thus  voted  in  accordance  with  the 
belief  that  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  would 
be  injurious  to  the  financial  interests  of  the  people  ; 
but  does  that  view  commend  their  statesmanship  ? 
Policy  of  Obstruction.— The  leaders  of  the 
Democracy  have  not  had  absolute  control  of  the 
National  government  since  1861,  but  in  the  mean- 
while they  have  played  the  role  of  obstructionists. 
As  an  organization — not  all,  but  a  majority  of  the 
individuals  composing  it — they  have  from  that  time 
forward,  opposed  all  the  great  national  movements, 
political  or  industrial.  The  party  organization,  as 
such,  aided  and  abetted  the  Confederates  in  their 
efforts  to  break  up  the  Union,  while  multitudes  of 
its  individual  members  were  loyal  to  the  core,  and 
entered  the  Union  armies,  and  served  the"Nation  in 
other  capacities — none  were  truer  than  they.  The 
party  opposed  the  Homestead  Bill  which  has  been 
fraught  with  blessings  to  millions  of  American  citi- 
zens; in  connection  with  this,  they  opposed  the 
grants  of  waste  or  unoccupied  lands  to  aid  in  build- 
ing railways  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific ; 
they  opposed  reconstruction,  which  secures  to  all 


L'Til  POLITU'AL    I'AUTIK^. 

civil  rights;  thoy  imlircftly  iiijurt'd  tlu'  piililic 
frodit  l)y  their  :\lliaiices  witli  inflationists;  they 
opjiosed  the  resumption  of  specie  payments;  they 
opposed  every  measure  designed  to  prevent  fraudu- 
lent  voting ;  and  in  State  legislation  they  have  the 
cTC'dit  of  never  of  their  own  accord  enacting  a 
registry  law,  one  of  the  most  effective  means  to 
secure  the  purity  of  the  ballot-box.  Meanwhile,  in 
every  available  form,  they  manifested  hostility  to 
the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  country  by  en- 
deavoring to  introduce  into  practice  theories  of 
tariffs,  which,  when  in  force  hitherto,  had  brought 
ruin  upon  our  mechanical  industries. 

The  Republican  party  is  by  no  means  perfect ; 
yet  one  custom  it  deserves  credit  for,  that  is,  when 
abuses  have  grown  up  among  government  officials 
or  members  of  Congress  belonging  to  it,  the  charges 
are  investigated  and  the  delinquents  brought  to 
trial:  for  example,  the  cases  of  those  who  were 
connected  with  the  "  Credit  Mobilier  "  scheme,  and 
the  "  Star  Route  "  affair ;  while  it  is  just  as  strin- 
gent in  relation  to  its  internal  management :  witness 
the  short  work  it  made  of  the  "  Boss "  system. 
Every  political  organization  is  liable  to  be  imposed 
upon  by  selfish  and  dishonest  men,  who  connect 
themselves  with  it  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out 
corrupt  or  selfish  measures.  But  we  judge  of  the 
organization  itself  by  the  manner  in  which  it  treats 
such  delinquents. 


xxxvn. 

POLITICAL  TRADING. 

The  Democratic  leaders  liave  always  been  famous, 
but  more  especially  during  the  last  thirty  years,  for 
making  alliances  with  political  factions.  An  instance 
in  point  occurred  in  1872,  when  their  convention 
adopted  as  their  candidate  for  the  presidency,  Hor- 
ace Greeley,  because  he  had  been  already  nominated 
by  a  portion  of  the  Republican  party,  known  at  the 
time  as  "Liberals."  It  is  inconceivable  how  an 
honorable  and  self-respecting  political  organization 
could  promise  their  support  to  a  man,  who  for  more 
than  thirty  years  had  thought  it  his  duty  to  oppose 
the  prominent  measures  and  policy  of  that  organ- 
ization. He  was  never  sparing  in  exposing  what  he 
characterized  as  their  "  shams ; "  especially  was  he 
inspired  with  a  sort  of  holy  indignation,  to  protest 
against  the  assumption,  when  they  proclaimed  them- 
selves the  special  friends  of  the  "  poor  man."  In 
behalf  of  this  same  "poor  man"  Horace  Greeley 
fought  the  Democratic  leaders  for  years ;  for  "  Cheap 
Postage  ; "  for  "  Free  Homesteads  "  for  the  landless 
on  the  public  domain  ;  for  protection  to  the  industrias 
of  the  people  at  large,  as  a  guard  against  the  low 
wages  being  established  here,  which  were  paid  work- 


•-'7l'  political    PAHTJh'S. 

men  in  Europe  ;  while  holding  up  to  view  in  scathing 
terms,  their  willingness  to  be  the  pliant  tools  of  the 
aristocracy  of  slave-owners.  Now  behold  !  when  a 
portion  of  the  Republicans,  dissatisfied  with  certain 
measures  of  the  majority,  chose  to  express  their  dis- 
satisfaction by  nominating  for  the  presidency  the 
most  advanced  Republican,  the  Democratic  leaders, 
no  doubt  hoping  to  slip  in,  adopted  the  same  candi- 
date— Horace  Greeley — their  old  political  and  tri- 
amphant  enemy,  for  he  bad  beaten  them  at  every 
point.  Such  negation  of  manliness  on  the  part  of 
the  leaders,  of  a  great  political  organization  never 
before  occurred  in  our  history.  The  vast  unenlight- 
ened crowd,  that  vote  the  ticket  right  or  wrong, 
did  follow  their  leaders,  but  great  numbers  of  the 
intelligent  refused  to  stultify  themselves  by  voting 
for  their  old,  inveterate  political  opponent. 

Coquetting  with  Pactions. — Again  :  when  the 
bill  to  resume  specie  payments  was  before  Congress 
jn  1875,  we  have  seen  the  Democratic  leaders  oppos- 
ing it  at  every  point,  but  the  l^epublicans,  having 
a  majority  in  both  houses,  passed  the  bill  which 
was  signed  by  President  Grant.  From  that  day 
the  indications  were  that  in  four  years  the  resump- 
tion would  take  place,  as  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  was  carrying  out  the  ])rovisions  of  the 
Act,  as  he  had  been  authorized  by  laAv  of  Congress. 
Meanwhile  the  leaders  Avere  not  idle ;  first  they  saw 
that  the  influence  of  the  prospective  resumption, 
was  likely  to  be  beneficial  to  the  business  interests 
of  the  country — did  they  fear  that  their  political 


POLITICAL  TRADING.  273 

opponents  would  get  the  credit  of  the  improvement  ? 
— for  they  became  very  anxious  on  the  subject,  and 
proclaime<i  to  the  dear  ])eople,  that  the  latter  were 
not  doing  all  they  could  to  promote  resumption. 
This  ])hase  of  the  subject  went  on  for  some  time, 
when  by  degrees  the  inflation  or  Greenback  move- 
ment began  to  attract  visionaries  from  both  the 
political  parties.  Now  the  idea  seems  to  have  oc- 
curred to  these  leaders,  that  if  they  would  coquette 
a  little  Avith  this  new  faction  they  might  attract 
sufficient  numbers  in  Congressional  districts,  that 
were  about  evenly  balanced,  to  succeed  in  the  com- 
ing elections.  They  tried  the  experiment  in  Maine 
(1878)  and  gained  in  some  of  the  districts — and  by 
a  peculiar  arrangement  in  that  State — a  governor. 
Thus  being  encouraged,  they  bid  for  the  good  will 
of  the  Greenbackers  throughout  the  Union,  and  at 
the  time  having  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, they  repealed  the  Resumj^tion  -Bill  as  far 
as  they  could,  but  the  repeal  failed  to  pass  the 
Senate,  the  majority  there  being  in  favor  of  a  return 
to  specie  payments,  and  honest  money.  Thus  they 
were  playing  fast  and  loose  with  the  inflationists  ; 
time  wore  along  and  on  Jan.  1,  1879  resumj^tion  took 
place,  two  months  before  the  Democrats  obtained  a 
majority  in  the  Senate. 

In  the  State  of  Ohio,  during  the  canvass  for 
governor  (1879),  we  have  seen  these  leaders  nomi- 
nate one  of  the  extreme  inflationists  of  the  time, 
a  virtual  repudiator,  though  he  may  not  have  so 
deemed  himself,  adopting,    for  the   most    part    the 


l':4  rol.lTlCAL    I'ARTIES, 

juiiuijilrs  of  tli.it  |i:irt y  ;  wliile  in  Maine  tliey  con- 
tinueil  tlu>  nllianco  of  the  year  before,  and  iji  both 
States (lemnndi'tl  that  tlie  hard  money  and  National 
debt-jiaying  members  of  the  ]>arty,  should  vote  this 
combination  tieket — no  questions  asked.  Meamvliile, 
in  the  canvass  for  governor  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  they  proclaimed  themselves  in  favor  of  hard- 
money  ;  that  State  being  mudi  engaged  in  mercan- 
tile pursuits;  the  latter's  newspapers,  also,  using 
the  strongest  terms  in  condemnation  of  the  Green- 
back heresy,  and  against  the  repudiation  of  the 
National  debt.  Consistent  with  this  i)olicy,  we  often 
see  the  leaders  meeting  in  State,  or  National  Con- 
ventions, and  so  framing  resolutions  as  to  exj)ress 
opinions,  it  may  be  differing  somewhat  from  the 
general  sentiments  of  the  ])arty's  ordinary  mani- 
festoes, but  a])parently  calculated,  for  the  time 
being  to  induce  factions  of  other  parties  to  vote 
their  ticket. 


xxxvm. 

PROPHETS  OF  EVIL. 

Raven  Croaks. — It  seems  peculiarly  unfortunate 
for  a  great  political  organization  at  any  time  to  be 
60  straitened  as  to  rely  for  its  success  upon  the  mis- 
fortunes of  the  people.  During  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion,  the  hopes  of  the  disloyal  leaders  of  the 
Democracy  hung  upon  the  reverses  of  the  Union 
armies ;  and  they  chuckled  over  every  defeat  with 
which  the  latter  met.  Financial  distress  or  dis- 
turbances were  a  welcome  boon  to  those  leaders, 
meanwhile,  giving  them  an  opportunity  to  ventilate 
their  peculiar  theories  of  what  they  themselves 
would  do  in  the  premises  if  they  only  had  the 
power.  Thus  they  stood  ready  to  avail  themselves 
of  any  failure  of  the  cro])s  or  in  business.  In  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1880  such  failures  were 
deemed  essential  to  their  success,  if  we  may  judge 
from  the  gloomy  forebodings  of  their  orators  and 
news})apers  of  the  period.  But  the  failures  did  not 
come;  meanwhile  the  country  was  gradually  re- 
covering from  the  crash  of  1873,  as  the  adoption  of 
specie  payments — so  bitterly  opposed  by  these 
leaders — had  been  making,  business  more  and  more 
stable  for  a  year  and  a  half,  by  inspiring  commer- 
cial confidence. 


27G  rol.lTlCAJ.    /'MiTlKS. 

Futile  Prophecies. — The  Deuu )ciaiic  i>arty  be- 
ing in  the  majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
in  which  bills  in  relation  to  the  finances  must 
originate,  its  leaders,  at  the  close  of  the  first 
session  of  the  XLVI  Congress  in  1880,  for  reasoiiH 
known  to  themselves,  refused  to  pass  a  bill  to  enable 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  [Mr.  Windom]  to  re- 
fund the  portion  of  the  debt  coming  due  within  a 
few  months,  and  before  Congress  would  again  meet. 
Could  it  be  possible  that  the  prophecy,  so  confi- 
dently made,  of  financial  disturbances  during  that 
summer,  were  based  on  the  non-passage  of  such 
bill? 

The  United  States  Treasury  had  about  8200,000,- 
000  available  to  meet  an  indebtedness  of  about 
$650,000,000  in  bonds,  soon  to  become  due  and  to 
be  redeemed  in  some  way.  The  Secretary,  thus 
left  to  his  own  resources,  proposed  to  the  creditors, 
as  a  business  transaction,  to  change  the  bonds  they 
held  to  a  lower  rate  of  interest  and  to  run  for  a 
longer  time.  The  creditors  agreed  to  the  arrange- 
ment; the  success  was  complete,  and  by  the  opera- 
tion 813,000,000  a  year  in  interest  w-ere  saved  to 
the  people.  Had  these  le;iders  in  Congress  author- 
ized the  Secretary  to  refund  that  portion  of  the 
debt,  they  might  have  claimed  a  portion  of  the 
credit  of  saving  these  millions,  instead  they  had 
only  obtained  the  credit  of  being  obstructionists  in 
opposing  the  Secretary's  common  sense  financial 
policy,  wdiich  proved  successful,  as  the  business  of 
the  country  experienced  no  disturbance  because  of 


PROPHETS  OF  EVIL.  277 

the  Treasury  not  being  able  to  meet  its  obligations. 
The  nominal  Democrats — that  is,  Democratic  in 
name  but  in  practical  financial  matters,  Republican 
— aj)plaucTed  the  policy  and  the  success  of  the  Secre- 
tary. 

Party  Lines. — These  leaders  are  prone  to  resort 
to  means  that  are  calculated  to  inspire  distrust  in 
the  minds  of  the  people.  In  the  presidential  can- 
vass of  1876,  their  cry  was  simply  the  word 
"  Reform  " — and  that  word,  continually  repeated, 
leaving  to  the  imagination  of  their  followers  to  con- 
jure up  what  direful  things  needed  '•'•reform^ 
Again  :  in  the  case  of  the  Electoral  Commission 
(February  1877), — a  compromise  arrangement  em- 
powered in  Congress  hy  Democrats  and  liepub- 
licans  alike — consisting  of  fifteen  members  of  as 
intelligent,  high  and  noble-minded  men  as  were 
found  in  the  Nation,  and  who  spent  weeks  patiently 
and  carefully,  while  under  oath,  in  weighing  the 
evidence  bearing  upon  the  point  in  issue,  and  who 
decided  that  the  Republican  candidate  was  duly 
elected  President  of  the  United  States  ;  notwith- 
standing all  this,  when  the  covenanted  arbitration 
was  decided  against  them,  the  Democratic  leaders 
at  once  raised  the  cry  of  the  single  word  "  Fraud^"* 
repeated  ad  injinitxon. 

Fallacies. — The  advocates  of  Free  Trade  and 
for-revenue-only  in  arguing  against  a  protective  or 
equalizing  tariff,  ignore  the  fact  that  the  money 
raised  by  import  duties  goes  to  defray  the  current 
expenses    of  the    national    government,  and  thiis 


278  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

benefit  the  jn-oplo  at  largo.  Tliis  money  does  not 
come  from  oxtortioii,  hut  from  the  free  will  of  those 
who  |)urchase  the  foreign  goods  on  whieli  these 
duties  are  levied.  They  need  not  buy  them,  as  to 
own  such  class  of  merchandise  is  not  absolutely 
essential.  This  immense  amount  of  property — 
worth  about  §1000,000,000  a  year — which  is  im- 
ported and  pays  so  large  percentage  of  profit  to  the 
importer  and  the  merchant,  ought  to  pay  in  the 
form  of  duties  its  share  of  the  general  expenses  of 
the  government.  It  is  a  little  singular  that  these 
zealous  gentlemen  never,  in  their  writings  or  in 
their  lectures,  contrast  the  wages  paid  abroad  for 
the  same  class  of  work  Avith  those  ])aid  here ; 
neither  do  we  ever  hear  them  contrast  the  manner 
of  living  of  foreign  operatives  in  respect  to  their 
food  and  the  houses  they  live  in — all  inconsequence 
of  the  low  wages  they  receive — and  their  general 
comfort  with  those  of  the  American.  Why  should 
not  the  people  whom  they  try  to  influence,  have 
the  truth  in  all  its  bearings  put  before  them,  that 
they  may  judge  for  themselves  ?  On  the  other 
hand,  Avould  they  transfer  the  profits  of  which  they 
complain  to  the  foreign  manufacturer,  and  in  con- 
sequence, cither  cut  down  the  wages  of  our  own 
workpeople  or  throw  them  out  of  employment  ?  The 
dividends  of  the  manufacturer  and  of  the  workmen 
— the  latter  called  wages — are  the  outgrowth  of  the 
combination  of  capital  and  labor — the  latter  per- 
formed by  our  own  workpeople  for  which  they  are 
paid  on   an  average   more  than  twice  as  much  as 


PROPHETS  OF  EVIL.  279 

their  fellows  in  Europe.  This,  however,  it  seems, 
goes  for  nothing  in  comparison  Avith  the  importance 
of  sustaining  certain  theories.  Why  do  these 
writers  and  lecturers  never  say  a  word  on  the  ad- 
vantages our  own  workpeople  derive  from  having 
something  to  do,  and  at  comparatively  good  wages  ? 
Why  not  explain  to  them  the  difference  in  wages 
paid  in  the  United  States  and  in  Europe  ?  Why 
do  they  not  draw  a  comparison  between  the  com- 
forts of  living  which  the  American  workmen  enjoy 
when  compared  with  those  of  their  fellows  in 
Europe  ?  Political  economists,  who  have  made 
this  subject  a  special  study,  estimate  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  adult  population  of  the  United  States, 
literally  work  for  wages.  If  this  estimate  is  correct 
it  would  follow  that  the  latter  and  those  Avhom  they 
support  are  the  mass  of  the  people. 

The  Workmens'  Answer. — On  the  other  hand 
they  tell  those  employed  that  in  consequence  of  the 
present  tariff  they  pay  higher  for  what  they  pur- 
chase. The  workmen  reply  :  We  prefer  to  have 
good  wages  and  pay  higher  for  what  we  buy,  than 
to  have  low  wages  and  pay  less.  We  can  practice 
economy  in  both  cases,  and  we  can  certainly  lay  up 
more  for  a  "  rainy  day  "  on  high  wages  than  on  low, 
and  in  respect  to  what  things  we  need,  outside 
food  and  rent,  we  virtually  buy  nothing  strictly 
foreign,  except  tea  and  coffee,  and  on  these  there  is 
no  duty,  while  home  competition  has  brought  all 
textile  fabrics  that  we  use  in  clothing,  down  to  a 
reasonable  price.     Therefore,  the  intelligent  work- 


280  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

men  say  to  those  gentlemen,  "  We  do  not  thank  yoA» 
though  your  intentions  are  kind,  for  your  ndvoeacy 
of  theories,  whieh,  if  put  in  praetice,  would  ecrt.ainly 
lower  our  wages  or  deprive  us  altogether  of  employ- 
ment, and  thus  prevent  our  earning  the  means  to 
purchase  the  goods  you  recommend,  though  they 
may  be  nominally  as  cheaj)  as  you  say."  These 
sentiments  are  in  substance  expressed  again  and 
again  by  intelligent  and  incbistrious  mechanics. 

The  Benevolence  of  Manufacturers. — You 
would  infer  from  the  strong  statements  by  the  o|> 
ponents  of  an  equalizing  or  protective  tariff  against 
American  manufacturers,  that  the  latter  were  ty- 
rants, avaricious  and  cruel,  when  in  truth  there  is  no 
class  of  men  who  have  done  more  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  children  of  these  workmen  than  they 
by  their  munificent  gifts  to  found  institutions  for 
education.  Many  of  these  proprietors  learned  in 
their  own  experience  to  symj)athize  with  struggling 
virtue,  as  often  seen  among  their  own  employees, 
and  at  the  close  of  their  career,  and  sometimes  be- 
fore, have  taken  measures  by  means  of  their  bene- 
volences to  promote  at  large  the  interests  of  the 
workpeople.  How  different  this  is  in  principle 
from  that  we  have  learned  of  so  many  of  the 
English  manufacturers,  who  congratulate  them- 
selves on  having  j)aid  their  poor  fax,  and  thus  done 
their  share  in  providing  poorhouses  for  their  worn 
out  workpeople,  male  and  female.  Yet  owing  to 
the  political  influence  of  ])olitical  demagogues 
working  men  are  tempted  to  distrust  their  employers, 


PltOFHETS  OF  F  \JL.  28 1 

and  in  consequence  take  but  little  interest  in  the 
latter's  business  or  success.  In  addition  to  the 
rich  manufacturers  that  have  aided  the  cause  of 
education  by  munificent  gifts,  numbers  might  be 
named  who  in  proportion  to  their  ability,  have 
afforded  opportunities  in  a  less  public  manner  for 
their  workpeople  to  improve  themselves,  by  means 
of  reading-rooms  and  lectures  and  facilities  for 
social  intercourse.  In  truth  no  class  of  wealthy 
men  is  so  liberal  toward  those  of  limited  means. 
Peter  Cooper  was  a  manufacturer,  and  so  was 
John  F.  Slater,  who  gave  a  million  of  dollars  to  aid 
education  in  the  south ;  and  Mr.  Williston  the 
founder  of  the  Academy  that  bears  his  name,  and 
the  bestower  of  many  other  similiar  benevolences, 
v;as  a  manufacturer.  Scores  of  such  liberal  Ameri- 
can manufacturei's  could  be  named. 

But  in  all  these  matters  the  Democratic  policy 
seems  to  be  the  fostering  of  public  fear  by  predic- 
tions of  evil,  and  the  stimulation  of  distrust  between 
the  employer-class  and  the  wage-class. 


XXXIX. 

FALSE  PRETEm'lJES. 

Economy. — One  of  the  tactics  of  Democratic 
leaders  has  been  that  of  endeavoring  to  secure  advant- 
ages as  a  party  by  means  which  sometimes  appear 
like  false  pretences.  A  favorite  mode  of  bamboozling 
the  uninitiated  is  the  systematic  boast  of  economy 
in  the  administration  of  public  expenses.  This  is 
often  done  by  making  insufficient  appropriations  to 
carry  on  the  general  government  for  the  ensuing 
financial  year.  This  year  closes  the  30th  of  June, 
but  Congress  will  meet  again  in  December,  before 
the  small  appropriations  thus  made  have  been  ex- 
hausted. Meantime  these  leaders  have  been  pro- 
claiming in  their  papers,  speeches  and  platforms 
how  many  million  dollars  they  have  saved  the 
people.  The  great  mass  of  their  followers  seem 
never  to  become  aware  of  the  exact  truth  on  the 
subject,  as  their  papers  are  careful  to  reiterate  from 
time  to  time  how  much  these  professed  economists 
have  cut  down  the  extravagant  appropriations  of 
the  other  party.  The  unenlightened  but  faithful 
Democrat  believes  these  statements  most  implicitly, 
and  as  a  patriot  votes  the  ticket  in  the  next  fall 
elections. 

la   due    time    Congress    assembles,    and  after    a 


FALSE    PHETENCES  2T1» 

while,  comes  a  report  from  the  Departments,  stat- 
ing that  the  appropriations  made  when  Congress 
was  last  in  session,  are  about  exhausted.  These 
economical  gentlemen  at  once  bring  in  the  neces- 
sary deficency  bills,  and  pass  them  without  a  word 
— as  meekly  as  unweaned  lambs.  The  rank  and 
file  scarcely  if  ever  hear  of  these  deficiency  bills,  for 
thej'  are  not  paraded  from  day  to  day  and  week 
to  week  in  the  party  papers,  though  the  latter's 
readers  are  not  permitted  to  forget  the  millions  as- 
serted to  have  been  saved  the  tax-ridden  people  by 
the  insufficient  appropriations  just  noted.  This 
sort  of  economy  has  been  practised  every  year, 
when  fall  elections  were  in  prospect — can  this  be 
merely  a  coincidence  ? 

An  Illustration. — When  the  Democracy  ob- 
tained control  of  the  Lower  House  of  Congress  they 
proclaimed  they  would  reform  the  government  in  re- 
lation to  its  expenses,  and  they  cut  down  the  appro- 
priations for  1877,  about  fourteen  million  dollars, 
less  than  had  been  appropriated  for  1876  by  the 
previous  Republican  Congress.  The  following  year 
they  entered  upon  a  crusade  against  the  ar?7ii/,  and 
what  was  known  as  the  '■'•fast  mail^''  which  was 
designed,  especially,  to  facilitate  the  business  of 
the  country ;  they  also  caused  the  suspension  of 
work  for  a  time,  on  necessary  jowJ^/c  buildings  by 
refusing  sufficient  funds  to  carry  them  on,  the  sum 
of  these  general  reductions  amounted  to  about 
$35,000,000.  But  when  the  deficiences  were  added 
in,  "  the  appropriations  of  1877    were  $83,000,000 


284-  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

gi-cator  than  (host,  fur  1JS76."  Yt't  in  the  j)]atf()rm 
of  thi'ir  National  Convention  at  Cincinnati  (June 
1880)  tliey  eay :  "  we  congratulate  the  country 
uj)on  the  honesty  and  thrift  of  a  Democratic  Con- 
gress, which  has  reduced  the  juiblic  exi)en<liture8 
forty  million  dollars  a  year.''''  But  it  is  a  singular 
fact  in  the  face  of  this  assertion,  that  when  the  de- 
ficiency bills  for  the  five  years  (1876-1881)  were 
added  in  the  average  yearly  expenditure  in  the  form 
of  legitimate  current  expenses  of  the  government 
was  in  round  numbers  |!8,000,000,  more  than  the 
last  Kcpublican  appropriation  in  1876,  making  in 
all  840,000,000.  The  increase  of  the  pension  list 
had  much  to  do  with  this  extra  expense,  and  to 
meet  it  was  necessary.  But  was  it  not  a  species 
of  false  pretense  to  make  too  small  approjjriations, 
and  then  eke  out  the  necessary  funds  to  carry  on 
the  government  by  quietly  passing  deficiency  bills? 
Warlike  Patriotism. — Take  an  instance  of  an- 
other character.  In  1862,  the  leaders  of  the  Demo- 
cracy took  the  ground  that  the  war  was  not  carried 
on  vigorously  enough  to  suit  their  patriotic  and 
belligerent  emotions.  This  was  the  lament  jur-t  be- 
fore the  fall  elections  of  that  year.  One  unac- 
quainted with  the  deep  glow  of  patriotism  that 
thrilled  their  bosoms,  would  have  suj)posed  the 
leaders  were  held  by  some  invisible  leash  or  they 
would  have  hastened  to  the  field  of  battle,  and  scat- 
tered the  rebel  hordes  like  dust  before  a  March 
wind.  It  was  a  little  striking  that  these  terrible 
censures  couUl  n-x)t.  lo   directed  aaainst  the  western 


FALSE    PliETENCES.  2S5 

armies,  as  they  had  been  advancing  from  point  to 
point,  and  made  no  retreats.  It  must  have  been 
the  slow  movements  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  that 
moved  their  indignation.  This  army  was  not  a  whit 
inferior  qf  itself  to  the  victorious  Western  armies ;  it 
had  been  drilled  and  drilled,  but  was,  after  a  long 
while,  led  into  the  swamps  of  the  Chickohominy. 
Here  the  results  were  as  marked  for  their  failure 
as  elsew^iere,  those  of  other  armies  had  been  for 
success.  The  political  canvass  of  this  year  glowed 
all  along  the  line  of  the  loyal  States  with  the  un- 
wonted zeal  of  the  leaders  of  the  Democracy  to 
prosecute  the  war  to  the  knife.  Two  years  after- 
ward, these  gentlemen  nominated  as  their  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency  the  general  who  commanded 
this  army  and  to  whom  history  attributes  this,  the 
only  failure  of  the  war,  and  the  one  which  they 
had  eagerly  charged  against  the  government !  The 
belligerent  furor  was  specially  rampant  in  the  State 
of  New  "V  ork.  There  a  Democratic  Governor  was 
elected — many  thousands,  allured  by  these  protes- 
ations  of  patriotic  zeal  contrary  to  their  custom^ 
voting  that  ticket.  This  governor,  the  following 
year  July  1863,  met  the  rioters  face  to  face  in  the 
city  Hall  Park  of  New  York  city — their  hands 
stained  with  the  blood  of  innocent  persons — but 
instead  of  denouncing  their  murders,  robberies  and 
house-burnings  and  other  violations  of  law,  the 
governor  called  them  his  friends,  and  told  them 
he  had  sent  his  adjutant  to  Washington  to  have  the 
draft  stopped.   The  inference  was  that  the  National 


28G  POLITIC  A 1.   IWHTIES. 

govonnncnt  was  wroii^  in  dcMnaiHlintj;"  men  to  pros- 
ecute the  war,  and  llie  rioters  wei'e  riglit  in  refusing 
to  allow  it.  But  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  decided  otherwise.  Similar  instances  of 
these  false  pretences  can  be  found  in  almost  every 
"  election  year." 

Another  Election  Cry. — "When  President  Har- 
rison died,  (1841),  the  Whig  Congress  granted  his 
widow  one  year's  presidential  salary,  $(25,000.  This 
Avas  done  "  out  of  consideration  of  his  expenses  in 
removing  to  the  seat  of  government,  and  the  limited 
means  which  he  had  left  behind."  Though  in  office 
the  greater  ])art  of  his  life,  according  to  Thomas  H. 
Benton,  "  his  salaries  had  passed  away  in  charities 
and  in  hospitalities — the  poor  man's  friend,  he  him- 
self died  poor."  Yet  this  act,  so  commendable  in 
itself,  was  paraded  with  a  great  clamor  throughout 
the  land  by  the  Democratic  leaders  and  their  coun- 
try papers,  as  one  of  unwarrantable  extravagence 
on  the  part  of  Congress  in  their  voting  away  the 
public  money.  In  consequence  of  this  clamor  the 
party  was  successful  in  the  next  election.  It  adds 
zest  to  this  hue  and  cry  about  economy  to  know 
that  it  was  made  by  the  leaders  and  managers  "  who 
had  actually  robbed,  plundered  and  stolen,  during 
the  previous  ten  years,  more  than  ^00,000,000  of 
the  people's  money."  (Democracy,  by  Norcross, 
pp.  205-208.) 


XL. 

CHANGE   OF  BASE. 

It  is  remarkable  in  how  many  instances,  during 
the  last  twenty  or  more  years,  the  leaders  of  the 
Democracy  have  been  forced  to  approve  measures 
which  were  introduced  by  the  Republicans,  against 
strenuous  Democratic  opposition. 

Abolition  of  Slavery. — The  Democratic  party 
organization — not  all  the  members — encouraged  the 
Southern  wing  in  their  efforts  to  break  up  the 
Union  and  perpetuate  slavery,  but  since  the  end 
came  in  the  destruction  of  that  system,  and  in 
making  the  Union  stronger  than  ever,  they  have 
come  upon  the  ground  originally  held  by  their 
opponents,  and  hail  with  satisfaction  the  fact  that 
wo  are  no  longer  cramped  in  our  energies  by  the 
influence  of  human  bondage.  This  change  of  senti- 
ment was  by  no  means  made  at  once,  but  at  length 
they  even  recognized  the  vast  importance  of  having 
the  Nation's  progress  freed  from  the  incubus  of 
slavery.  This  is  creditable  to  their  good  sense — 
though  it  comes  somewhat  late. 

Faying  the  Debt. — The  leaders  of  the  Democ- 
racy in  1868  favored  in  their  platform  paying  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  the  Nation's  debt  in  the  then 
depreciated  greenbacks  ;  the  Republicans  the  same 


28S  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

year  c:\ino  out  in  tlicir  jdatform  uiiC(iuivocally  in 
favor  of  ]>aying  the  Nation's  debt  honestly  in  full, 
ami  upon  that  ground  they  aj)j)ealcd  to  the  intelli- 
goMce  and  honesty  of  the  jjeojile  and  were  by  tliem 
sustained.  The  latter  j)arty  looked  upon  any  form 
of  virtual  repudiation  as  dishonorable  and  a  crime, 
and  as  such  condemned  it  under  any  form  or  name, 
announcing  that  "all  creditors  at  home  and  abroad" 
should  be  ])aid,  "  not  only  according  to  the  letter 
but  the  spirit  of  the  laws  under  which  it  was  con- 
tracted." Now  the  Democratic  leaders  profess  to 
be  in  favor  of  paying  the  national  debt,  principal 
and  interest,  since  honesty  seems  to  be  popular. 

The  Amendments  to  the  Constitution. — The 
XVth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  having  ])assed  Congress  in  due  form  came 
before  the  legislature  of  New  York  for  the  latter's 
ratification,  which  was  given  it.  Afterward,  when 
another  legislature  had  assembled,  which  had  a 
majority  of  Democratic  members,  the  latter  went 
through  the  formal  farce  of  voting  to  annul  the 
sanction  given  by  the  previous  legislature.  The 
same  spirit  seemed  to  actuate  these  leaders  through- 
out the  land.  But  in  1872  the  same  leaders 
pledged  themselves  in  their  platform  "  to  maintahi 
the  union  of  these  States,  emancipation,  and  en- 
franchisement ['  the  civil  rights  of  the  freedmen  'J 
and  to  oppose  any  reopening  of  the  questions 
settled  by  the  XIIT,  XIV,  and  XV  amendments  to 
the  Constitution."  This  was  accepting  recon- 
struction,  which  they  had  bitterly  opposed  ;  it  had 


CHANGE  OF  BASE.  289 

now  become  a  fixed  fact,  and  popular.  They  had 
come  upon  the  ground  which  had  been  taken  by 
those  statesmen  who  comprehended  the  necessity  of 
giving  the  colored  man  a  chance  to  perform  intelli- 
gently his  duties  as  an  enfranchised  citizen.  Four 
years  afterward  (1876),  to  make  it  doubly  sure, 
they  declared  in  their  platform  that  "  In  the  whole 
country,  we  do  affirm  our  devotion  to  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  with  its  nmeudments 
unwersally  accepted  as  ^  final  settlement  of  the  con- 
troversies that  had  engendered  civil  war." 

These  leaders  also  opposed  Reconstruction,  except 
on  principles  that  v.'ould  have  been  injurious  to  us 
as  a  progressive  Nation,  that  is,  they  wished  Restor- 
ation in  accordance  with  Andrew  Johnson's  policy, 
and  they  were  consistent  when  they  connived  at 
and  virtually  encouraged  the  Ku  Klux  outrages  in 
order  to  neutralize  the  effects  of  reconstruction. 
{American  People,  pp.  1033-44.)  Why  is  it  that 
these  gentlemen  have  accepted  the  measures  intro- 
duced by  their  political  opponents,  and  which  at 
the  time  they  opposed  with  all  their  strength? 
There  can  be  but  two  reasons  assigned ;  either  they 
have  found  that  they  were  mistaken  in  their  opposi- 
tion and  now  see  it,  or  because  these  measures  in 
consequence  of  their  good  influence  have  become 
popular,  and  therefore  better  policy  to  accept  them. 
The  one  supposition  shows  that  the  statesmanship 
of  their  opponents  was  the  better  and  more  com- 
prehensive in  its  influence  and  beneficial  in  its 
effects  ;  the  other  that    acquiescence  is  the  better 


290  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

policy  in  order  to  staiul  fair  with  the   American 
people. 

Final  Approval  of  Measures. — Tt  seems  from 
the  very  first  to  liave  hcon  the  fate  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Democracy  to  oppose  measures  which  thjy 
were  afterward  compelled  to  accept  because  of 
their  utility;  for  instance,  in  the  earlier  days,  the 
policy  of  neutralit]/^  and  the  Hamiltonian  theory  of 
managing  i\iQ  Jinances.  In  later  times  their  opposi- 
tion to  the  introduction  of  chea}:)  postage  is  one  oi 
the  most  striking  instances.  The  leaders  of  the 
Democracy,  for  the  most  part,  have  opposed  the 
\)VQ?,e\\i  National  banking  system,  but  those  nominal 
Democrats,  who  are  financiers  and  merchants,  have 
come  fully  upon  Republican  ground  on  that  subject. 
However,  nothing  definite  can  be  predicted  of  the 
leaders  on  this  policy  so  long  as  they  continue  to 
flirt  with  Greenbackers  and  Inflationists.  On  one 
political  question  they  have  not  come  on  common 
ground  with  their  opponents — the  Tariff.  No  mat- 
ter whether  they  say  for  "  revenue  alone  "  or  "  only 
for  revenue,''  they  mean  their  hostility  to  any  sys- 
tem that  equalizes  the  cost  of  production  of  foreign 
manufactured  goods  that  in  any  form  come  in  com- 
petition with  those  of  our  own  make,  or  in  other 
words,  that  affords  jirotection  to  our  mechanical 
industries,  and  thereby  gives  employment  to  those 
of  our  own  people  who  work  for  wages.  This  ia 
evident  from  the  numbers  in  the  party  who  are 
absolute  Free  Traders,  and,  also,  may  be  inferred 
from  the  leaders  coquetting  with  the   latter  organ- 


CHANGE  OF  BASE.  291 

i/atioTi.  But  here,  too,  they  seem  to  L^ck  the  cour- 
age of  their  convictions,  and  are  evidently  afraid  to 
commit  themselves  as  a  party  to  any  definite  policy. 
This  is  clear  from  the  recent  failure  of  the  so-called 
"Morrison  Tariff  Bill,"  which  the  Free  Trading 
section  of  the  party  tried  to  pass  in  Congress  in  the 
year  1884,  and  for  which  one-fifth  of  their  members 
refused  to  vote. 

It  may  illustrate  the  progressive  views  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Democracy  on  the  subject  of  the 
tariff,  to  give  extracts  from  the  platforms  of  the 
last  three  of  their  National  Conventions.  In  1876 
they  demanded  a  tariff  "only  for  revenue;"  in 
1880,  "for  revenue  only;"  and  in  1884,  "  exclusively 
for  public  purposes."  It  is  presumed  the  different 
meanings  attached  to  each  of  the  first  two  can  be 
made  plain,  and  also  the  reasons  given  for  the 
change  of  base  in  adopting  the  third, "  exclusively 
for  public  purposes."  If  the  latter  phrase  differs 
essentially  in  meaning  from  the  first  two,  that  dif- 
ference ought  to  be  pointed  out  in  order  that  the 
members  of  the  party,  outside  the  leader  class,  may 
be  able  to  vote  intelligently. 


XLI. 

ILLEGAL  VOTING. 

The  Basic  Principle.  — In  our  government  the 
final  power  rests  in  tlie  hands  of  the  people  them- 
selves, who  express  their  Avill  in  choosing  by  ballot 
their  executive  officers  and  the  representatives  to 
their  legislative  bodies — both  National  and  State. 
If  these  elections  are  kept  pure  the  will  of  the  ))eo- 
ple  will  be  fully  expressed,  but  if  they  are  fraudu- 
lent, the  result  will  be  injurious  to  the  purity  of 
our  legislative  bodies.  For  this  reason,  among  many 
others,  all  lovers  of  honesty  and  fairness  in  elections 
desire  the  people  to  have  the  opportunity  of  express- 
ing their  will  by  their  votes.  That  the  voice  of  the 
majority  should  rule  is  the  keystone  of  our  political 
arch;  but  how  can  this  principle  be  carried  out  if 
dishonest  men  are  permitted  to  cast  more  than  one 
vote  for  each  candidate  at  elections?  To  carefully 
guard  the  purity  of  the  ballot-box  is  presumed 
to  be  the  desire  of  every  patriotic  citizen  ;  and 
to  do  otherwise  is  to  merit  the  condemnation  of 
every  advocate  of  truth  and  honesty.  Of  the  meas- 
ures adopted  to  prevent  this  class  of  frauds,  the 
most  eifective  is  to  have  the  voters,  under  proper 
regulations,  register  their  names  and  address,  that, 
if  necessary,  their  right  to  vote  can  be  verified.     It 


ILLEGAL  VOTING.  293 

seems  strange  that  any  portion  of  good  citizens 
should  be  opposed  to  a  law  designed  to  protect  the 
elective  franchise  from  fraud. 

Registry  La"w. — We  are  not  aware — though 
such  a  thing  is  not  impossible — of  a  single  instance, 
either  in  the  State  Legislatures  or  in  the  National 
Congress,  when  the  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party- 
took  the  initiative  in  proposing  laws  to  secure  fair 
and  honest  elections.  On  the  contrary,  we  have 
seen  them  in  every  instance  playing  the  role  of  ob- 
structionists to  every  measure  that  Avas  introduced 
by  others  to  promote  the  purity  of  the  ballot-box.  In 
what  State  have  they  of  their  own  motion  introduced 
a  rer^istry  law,  in  order  to  protect  citizens  entitled 
to  vote  and  prevent  their  wishes  being  neutralized 
by  fraud? 


[^Since  there  may  have  been  an  instance  in  which 
the  leaders  of  the  Democracy  of  their  ovm  motion 
instituted  a  registry  law  ice  leave  this  blank  in  order 
to  insert  an  authenticated  record  of  such  fact  lohen 
it  shall  have  been  found.'] 


Election  Frauds. — There  is  no  place  in  the 
Union  where  the  Democx'acy  holds  absolute  sway 
as  in  the  good  City  of  New  York.  Here  are  found 
the  classes — termed  "dangerous" — by  the  police, 


204  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

which  adhere  fervently  to  those  who  cater  to  their 
vices  and  always  vote  in  the  interest  of  that  jiolit- 
ical  organization  from  which  they  expect  to  derive 
the  most  benefits.  Out  of  such  elements  fraudulent 
voters  could  be  manufactured.  These  are  notoriotis 
facts,  and  arc  not  denied  by  good,  intelligent  and 
respectable  citizens  of  any  creed,  religious  or  polit- 
ical. This  accounts  for  the  ease  with  which  fraud- 
ulent voting  could  be  carried  out  in  that  city. 

Thus  in  1808,  when  an  election  was  to  be  held 
for  President  and  Congressmen  with  State  officers, 
it  was  determined  by  the  Democracy  to  carry  the 
State  at  all  hazards.  This  w^as  accomplished  l)y 
means  of  issuing  naturalization  papers  to  persons 
not  entitled  to  them.  Upon  these  forged  papers 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  fraudulent  votes  were 
cast.  They  had  so  large  a  sur])lus  of  these  docu- 
ments, that  they  were  used  by  the  same  party  for 
other  voters,  in  other  cities  and  towns,  and  along 
the  railways  of  the  State,  and  also,  it  was  said,  in 
two  neighboring  States.  To  make  the  matter  still 
more  sure,  a  circular  was  sent  from  the  city  to  the 
inspectors  of  election  belonging  to  the  party,  in 
important  districts  throughout  the  State,  requiring 
them  to  telegraph  immediately  on  the  close  of  the 
polls,  to  the  headquarters  of  the  Democratic  Cam- 
paign Commi^-teo  in  the  City  of  New  York,  their 
estimate  of  the  number  of  votes  cast  in  their  dis- 
tricts by  the  respective  parties.  They  were  enjoined 
to  be  thus  prompt,  before  the  telegraph  would  be 
used  in  transmitting  the  real  returns.  This  circular 


ILLEGAL  VOTING.  295 

had  attached  as  signature  of  the  committee's  chair- 
man the  name  of  a  gentleman  Avell  known  and 
who  has  since  been  highly  honored  by  the  Democ- 
racy as  their  peculiar  re])resentative  in  the  cause  oi 
"  Reform."^  Some  lengtli  of  time  elapsed  after  the 
returns  from  the  remainder  of  the  State  were  in, 
when  the  inspectors  of  election  in  New  York  made 
their  returns,  and  lo !  the  Democratic  voters  had 
been  so  numerous  in  the  city  that  the  party  was 
overwhelmingly  successful  in  electing  both  their 
National  and  State  tickets!  There  were  circum- 
stances connected  with  previous  elections  in  the 
State  which  made  it  evident  that  tremendous  frauds 
had  been  systematically  committed.  This  fact  Avas 
clearly  demonstrated  by  the  investigation  of  a  com- 
mittee appointed  by  Congress  for  the  purpose. 
{Report  of  Select  Committee  on  Alleged  Election 
Frmcds  in  New  ITorl:.)  Had  the  ])resent  law  been 
so  amended  as  to  require  the  applicant  to  receive 
his  naturalization  papers,  not  less  than  six  months 
before  he  was  entitled  to  vote,  Avould  these  whole- 
sale frauds  have  occurred  ? 

The  Remedy. — The  people  throughout  the  whole 
land  were  astounded.  They  were  interested  in  this 
election  far  beyond  what  they  would  have  been  if 
the  effect  had  been  limited  to  the  state  offices 
alone ;  they  were  not  willing  that  Congressmen 
and  Presidents  should  be  elected  by  fraud  in  any 
State.  The  scheme  had  been  devised  by  master 
minds,  and  effectually  carried  out,  yet,  as  some- 
times occurs,  they  went  too  far,  and  attracted  uni- 
>  Samuel  J.  Tilden. 


2P(i  POLITICAL   rARTIEf^. 

versal  attention.  The  crime  w;is  too  dangerous  td 
be  overlooked,  and  tlionglitful  and  patriotic  men 
demanded  of  Congress  jirotection  from  frauds  in  the 
elections  for  National  ofliccs.  In  consequence,  Con- 
gress, after  full  investigation  and  debate,  made  the 
dishonest  proceedings  just  mentioned,  the  occasion 
of  passing  a  law  to  prevent  similar  frauds  in  the 
States,  when  elections  are  held  for  choosing  Electors 
for  President,  or  the  Re]>rescntatives  of  the  people 
in  the  Lower  House.  This  Avas  in  accoixlance  with 
tbe  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  article  I , 
sect.  4,  as  decided  by  tbe  Supreme  Coui't. 

This  law  {American  People,  p.  1053,)  cannot  be 
objected  to  by  those  who  wish  honest  elections.  It 
])rovides  for  a  registry  of  the  legal  voters ;  what 
true  or  honest  patriot  could  object  to  that  ?  It 
provides  for  inspectors  of  election  to  be  appointe<l 
from  different  p>olitrcal  partie:^ — if  the  inspectors 
are  honest  and  fair,  this  ought  to  prevent  illegal 
voting,  and  if  they  are  not  honest  and  fair,  they 
can  prevent  fraud  by  watching  each  other.  Where 
can  there  possibly  be  an  objection  to  this  arrange- 
ment if  honest  elections  are  desired  ? 

The  law  has  worked  well  in  preventing  fraud, 
and  has  the  sanction  of  those  who  wish  the  people 
to  have  a  fair  expression  of  their  preferences  when 
they  vote  for  their  representatives  in  Congress  or 
for  President.  What  possible  motive  could  there 
be  to  repeal  this  law  on  the  part  of  any  political 
organization,  especially  if  they  wished  fair  elections. 
It  applies  only  to  cities  and  towns  of  a  certain  num- 


ILLEGAL   VOTING.  297 

ber  of  inhabitants — 20,000  or  more — and  for  ilie 
reason  well  known,  that  in  these  there  are  more 
facilities  for  carrying  out  schemes  of  illegal  voting 
than  in  rural  districts,  where  the  voters  are  com- 
paratively few,  and  well  known  to  each  other. 

Opposed  by  the  Democrats. — The  propriety  of 
this  Inw  mu:;t  be  obvious  to  reflecting  minds,  as 
Congressman  in  their  official  duties  have  an  equal 
right  to  vote  on  all  the  interests  that  pertain  to  the 
whole  people  of  the  Union,  and  therefore  the  whole 
people  have  a  right  to  demand  that  these  representa- 
tives should  be  elected  by  the  free  and  fair  choice 
of  their  own  constituents  in  their  oxen  several  dis- 
tricts. However,  when  the  law  was  before  Congress 
it  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the  Democratic  members 
on  the  ground  that  it  "  interfered  with  the  rights  of 
the  States."  This  was  the  old  presumption  under 
a  new  phase,  which  means  that  the  Nation — the 
entire  people — has  no  right  to  protect  itself  from 
fraudulent  voters  in  any  single  State.  When  tho 
bill  was  under  discussion,  its  opponents  proclaimed 
with  nervous  anxiety  their  willingness  that  elections 
should  be  free  and  fair,  but  when  an  amendment 
was  offered  forbidding  persons  coming  to  the  polls 
aiTucd  with  deadly  weapona  '■'■for  the  purpose  of  xn- 
timidating  voters  " — thus  even  in  its  wording  ren- 
dering the  accusation  or  indictment  liable  to  fail  by 
means  of  a  simple  denial  of  the  motive  on  the  part 
of  the  accused — the  Democratic  Senators  to  a  man 
voted  against  the  amendment,  and  it  failed.  ((7on- 
gressional  Record^  1879.)     May  not  the  solution  of 


29S  POLITICAL    /'AJiTILJS. 

this  e-xlruonliiiary  vote  be  foinul  in  the  fact  that,  to 
a  certain  extent,  the  custom  of  carrying  deadlv 
weai>ons  to  the  polls  prevails  in  the  or.ce  slave- 
owning  States  ?  (jReport  of  Senate  Committee  on 
Outrages,  etc. —  Teller,  Chairman.') 

The  record  shows  that  in  all  of  our  legislative 
discussions  concerning  illegal  voting  the  Democratic 
\>zyX\\,  for  some  reason  or  other,  has  invariably  found 
reasons  to  object  to  every  law  frr.med  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  ballot  box;  and  has  QC\\\n\\\ foimcl it 
impracticable  to  propose  any  other  law  for  that  pur. 
pose.     The  two  facts  bear  their  own  comment. 


XLH. 

CENTRALIZATION. 

Meaning  of  the  Term. — The  objection  made  to 
what  is  termed  centralization,  or  the  assertion  that 
the  national  government  at  Washington  has  too 
much  power,  is  only  a  modern  phase  of  the  old 
theory  of  State  or  Sovereignty  Rights.  The  strict 
application  of  this  doctrine  would  deprive  the 
Nation  of  the  power  to  sustain  itself  against  those 
who  might  wish  to  violate  its  integrity.  Under  the 
presumption  that  the  government  has  too  much 
power  these  theorists  would  not  permit  it  to  protect 
the  rights  of  the  whole  people ;  for  instance,  as 
noted  in  the  last  chapter,  in  guarding  against  fraud 
in  the  elections  for  Congressmen  and  Presidential 
Electors.  The  National  government — both  legisla- 
tive and  executive — is  })reeminently  the  represent 
tative  and  agent  of  the  whole  people  of  the  Union, 
and  to  it  emphatically  belongs  the  duty  of  protect- 
ing them  in  every  section  of  the  land.  The  charge 
of  Centralization  is  often  specious  and,  it  would 
seem,  only  used  to  cover  an  ulterior  purpose ;  for 
instance  the  law  to  prevent  fraudulent  voting  for 
Congressmen  and  Presidential  Electors  (1870)  was 
opposed  in   Congress   on  the  ground   that  it   was 


300  POLITICAL   rARTlES. 

giving  too  much  power  to  the  Kational  govcniincrit 
or  loading  to  Centralization.  But  tlie  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  says  in  rosjteot  to  elections  for 
Representatives  in  the  Lower  House;  "Congress 
may  at  any  time  by  law  make  or  alter  such  regula- 
tion/' (Article  I,  Section  -i.)  But  it  is  remark- 
able that  these  leaders  did  not  interpose  this  objec- 
tion when  they  wished  to  affiliate  with  the  Green- 
back-inflationists who  would  authorize  the  national 
government  as  a  central poxcer  to  issue  Greenbacks 
without  restriction  or  call  them  in,  if  the  govern- 
ment wished  to  influence  the  money  market.  Still 
more  strange  is  the  opposition  made  by  our  Demo- 
cratic friends  to  the  National  government's  aiding 
in  part,  public  schools  in  the  States,  and  pro  rata 
to  their  illiteracy,  on  the  ground  that  it  leads  to 
Centralization.  Thus  the  education  of  the  young, 
especially,  in  the  recent  slave-labor  States  must  be 
postponed  and  held  subordinate  to  a  mere  theory. 

A  Strong  Government.— "What  is  meant  by  a 
strong  National  government,  is  one  that  under  the 
constitution  and  laws  would  be  able — for  illustra- 
tion— to  protect  its  citizens  in  all  the  States  in  their 
rights ;  among  others  the  right  of  free  speech  and 
honest  voting ;  that  is ;  be  strong  enough  to  pro- 
tect its  own  integrity  in  the  security  and  purity  of 
elections  for  the  Nation's  own  officers,  and  enforce 
the  right  for  the  citizen  to  migrate  from  one  state 
to  another,  and  there  enjoy  the  protection  of  the 
government  in  his  privileges  as  a  citizen  of  the 
whole  Nation. 


CEX  TKA  L IZA  TIOX.  301 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  give  an  extract 
from  a  recent  decision  of  the  U.  S.  SuiDreme  Court 
on  the  question  of  guarding  the  purity  of  elections, 
it  says :  "  That  a  government  whose  essential 
character  is  republican,  whose  executive  head,  and 
legislative  body  are  both  elective,  whose  most 
numerous  and  powerful  branch  of  the  Legislature  is 
elected  by  the  people  directly,  has  no  power  by 
appropriate  laws  to  secure  this  election  from  the 
influence  of  violence,  of  corruption  and  of  fraud,  is 
a  proposition  so  startling  as  to  arrest  attention  and 
demand  the  gravest  consideration.  If  this  Govern- 
ment is  anything  more  than  a  mere  aggregation  of 
delegated  agents  of  other  States  and  Governments, 
each  of  Avliich  is  superior  to  the  General  Govern- 
ment, it  must  have  the  power  to  protect  the  elec- 
tions on  which  its  existence  depends  from  violence 
and  corruption."  Again,  in  respect  to  the  theory 
of  the  strict  constructionists  that  there  must  be  in 
so  many  words  an  express  power  etc.,  delegated  to 
Congress,  the  court  says  :  "  It  destroys  at  one  blow 
in  construing  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
the  doctrine  universally  applied  to  all  instruments 
of  writing,  that  what  is  implied  is  as  much  a  part 
of  the  instrument  as  what  is  expressed^ 


XLIII. 

FiXAXCiAL  co:mparisons. 

The  Balance  of  Trade. — Having  resumed  spe- 
cie payments,  to  make  permanent  this  solid  founda- 
tion for  business  transactions,  the  National  govern- 
ment must  be  able  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  fund- 
ed debt,  and  defray  its  current  expenses.  To  aid 
in  this  important  result,  it  will  be  to  the  Nation's 
advantage  to  have  the  balance  of  trade  in  its  favor, 
in  oi'der  to  avoid  paying  the  difference  in  gold. 
"With  the  aid  of  manufactured  articles  sent  abroad 
in  addition  to  our  agricultural  products,  we  can 
make  our  exports  of  equal  or  more  money  value 
than  our  imports.  AVe  have  never  before  exported 
such  immense  quantities  of  our  industrial  j^roducts 
of  various  kinds,  which  hitherto  we  have  made  to 
supply  but  partially  our  own  wants.  The  time 
was  when  we  were  satisfied  Avith  meeting  these 
wants  only,  but  since  the  Centennial  Exposition  we 
have  had  higher  aspirations,  even  to  send  abroad 
our  manufactured  goods  and  compete  Avith  the 
rest  of  the  world. 

The  American  people  Avere  encouraged  to  do 
this  because  the  majority  of  the  goods  made  by 
themselves  compared  favorably  at  that  Ex2)osition 


FINANCIAL  COMPARISONS.  303 

with  tliose  of  foreign  make,  while  in  respect  to 
those  for  practical  use,  such  as  ingenious  machinery 
and  all  kinds  of  labor-saving  tools  in  various  com- 
binations, they  were  unquestionably  the  farthest 
advanced  of  all  the  exhibitors.  They  were  never 
before  in  a  position  so  favorable  to  compete  with 
European  nations  in  manufacturing,  as  then  for  the 
first  time  they  had  availed  themselves  of  the  skill 
acquired  during  fifteen  years  of  consecutive  pro- 
tected labor  and  experiment.  The  following 
statement  and  estimate  may  give  some  idea  of  our 
industrial  progress.  We  learn  from  the  census  that 
in  18G0,  the  value  of  our  manufactures  was 
11,800,000,000 ;  in  1870,  83,400,000,000  ;  and  in 
1880,  !|!5,300,000,000.  It  may  also  be  noted  that 
during  this  same  period  our  exports  and  imports, 
and  the  value  of  our  agricultural  products  have 
increased  enormously  if  not  in  an  equal  ratio. 
In  addition  a  census  report  states  that  since  1860 
l)rices  have  been  reduced  from  25  to  30  per  cent, 
while  about  one  half  of  the  production  is  American. 
We  once  paid  England  $100  per  ton  for  steel  rails, 
but  since  American  manufactories  have  grown  up 
we  ]>urchase  them  at  about  |40  per  ton,  and  in  an 
exceptional  case  not  long  since,  a  lot  was  sold  for 
$34  per  ton.  Before  1861  our  mechanical  indus- 
tiieswere  never  free  for  more  than  four  or  five 
years  at  a  time  from  injudicious  intermeddling, 
such  as  changing  the  tariff  from  one  basis  to  another, 
or  making  the  attemi)t  from  time  to  time.  This 
\incertain.ty  had  a-n  ji furious  effect  upon  the  man- 


304  POLITICAL   rARTlliS. 

ufacturinn-  iiulustr'us  of  tho  laiul,  as  fa}»halisis  were 
timid  in  investing  to  much  extent  in  such  enter- 
prises. On  the  other  hand  the  certainty  of  no 
change  in  this  respect  for  a  number  of  years,  has 
had  much  to  do  with  our  present  vast  industrial 
advance,  as  well  as  the  application  of  labor-saving 
machinery,  the  most  of  which  is  of  American  inven- 
tion or  ingenious  imi)rovements  on  foreign  ones. 
"We  can  now  in  some  respects  compete  with  the 
world  in  skill  and  machinery  but  not  in  low  wages. 

Our  Bonds  and  Exports. — Another  good  result 
from  the  balance  of  trade  Avith  foreign  countries 
being  in  our  favor  is  to  change  the  ownership  of 
many  of  our  bonds  held  abroad,  as  they  are  fre- 
quently sent  back  to  pay  the  difference,  and  in- 
stead of  the  interest  on  them  being  paid  to  foreign 
holders  it  is  paid  to  our  own  people,  and  of  course 
goes  into  the  circulating  medium  of  the  country. 

Care  ought  to  be  taken  by  appropriate  measures 
to  keep  the  balance  of  trade  in  our  favor.  It  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  failures  of  the  crops  in 
Europe  will  continue  to  last,  and  thus  afford  from 
year  to  year  so  large  an  outlet  for  our  surplus 
grain.  This  deficiency  may  in  part  be  supplied  by 
our  exporting  the  products  of  our  mechanical  in- 
dustries. But  the  latter  cannot  be  accomplished  if 
these  industries  are  materially  injured  by  adverse 
legislation.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  sjyecial  friends 
of  the  workingman  hoped  to  benefit  him  by  lower- 
ing the  duties  on  imports,  and  thus  interfere  with 
the   amount   of   his    wages   by   diminishing  them, 


FINANCIAL  COMPARISONS.  305 

and  "  compensate  "  him  by  reducing  the  tax  on  to- 
bacco— a  more  or  less  useless  luxury,  and  on  whis- 
key— the  working  man's  special  curse. 

Fancy  Financiering. — We  can  judge  of  the 
merits  of  a  system  only  by  its  results.  It  seems  that 
much  of  the  revenue  collected  in  the  Democratic 
days  of  Jackson  and  Van  Buren  found  great  diffi- 
culties in  reaching  the  United  States  Treasury ;  it 
somehow  stuck  by  the  way,  even  more  than  it  did 
during  the  preceding  Whig  administration  of  John 
Quincy  Adams,  (1825-1829),  in  which  1885,374 
all  told,  failed  to  reach  the  Treasury.  In  Andrew 
Jackson's  eight  years,  (1829-1837),  $3,761,112  be- 
came entangled  in  the  2>ockets  of  the  collectors  and 
their  subordinates  ;  no  wonder  honest  old  Hickory, 
horrified  at  the  result,  said  to  Daniel  Webster  that 
"  he  had  always  sought  honest  men  for  the  offices, 
but  nearly  all  turned  out  thieves  as  soon  as  they 
obtained  full  possession  of  their  places."  {Histortj 
of  Democracy  by  Norcross,  p.  210).  Mr.  Van 
Buren  has  not  left  on  record  an  account  of  his 
emotions  when  he  learned  of  the  immense  difficulties 
his  officers  had  in  forwarding  their  collections  to 
the  Treasury  during  his  administration  of  four 
years,  (1837-1841),  as  13,343,792  failed  to  reach  it; 
this  was  nearly  as  much  as  lost  its  way  during 
Jackson's  eight  years  of  rule. 

The  Loss  on  the  $1,000. — Another  form  of  com- 
parison  may  be  interesting  to  the  reader.  In 
Adams's  administration  12.75  on  the  i!l,000  lost 
their  way  ;  in  Jackson's  87.52  on  the  same  amount; 


306  POLITICAL  PARTI  EH. 

wliile  in  Van  Buixmi's  §11.71  on  the  $1,000  never 
reached  the  Treasury.  This  period  covered  sixteen 
yearn.  Let  us  now,  in  connection  with  it,  examine 
another  period,  but  of  tioenty-oiie  years.  In  18G2, 
under  Republican  administration,  and  collection  of 
vastly  greater  sums,  this  loss  on  the  SI, 000  was  no- 
tably less  than  it  had  been  in  the  previous  adminis- 
tration— Mr.  Buchanan's — when  it  had  been  the  cus- 
tom, it  is  said,  in  making  estimates  of  the  public  ex- 
penses to  allow  for  an  average  of  814  on  the  thousand 
to  lose  its  way  to  the  Treasury.  Notwithstanding 
the  immense  disbursements  at  the  time — sometimes 
at  the  rate  of  a  million  dollars  a  day — the  loss  on  the 
$1,000  continued  to  diminish  from  year  to  year,  till 
in  Andrew  Johnson's  administration  it  fell  to  $1.05 
on  the  thousand,  and  in  General  Grant's  administra- 
tion to  $0.20 ;  and  still  lower  under  President 
Hayes. 

The  Contrast. — However,  the  most  remarkable 
contrast  has  been  in  the  Internal  Revenue  Depart- 
ment, where,  during  seven  years,  ending  June  30, 
1883,  8893,38-1,437  had  been  collected,  and  not  one 
dollar  became  entangled  by  the  way,  but  all  safely 
reached  the  Treasury.  This  vast  amount  was  col- 
lected through  the  medium  of  126  offices,  and  the 
entire  expense  was  not  quite  three  and  one-half  per 
cent,  on  the  sum  paid  in  (Commissioner  Raum's 
reports).  There  have  no  doubt  been  losses,  though 
to  a  limited  extent  when  compared  with  the  past,  in 
connection  with  import  duties,  as  there  are  so  many 
secret  facilities  for  the  dishonest  importer  to  cheat 


FINANCIAL  COMPARISONS.  307 

the  Treasury  by  means  of  double  invoices,  (p.  119), 
or  by  undervaluations. 

Successful  Financiering. — The  close  of  Presi- 
dent Buchanan's  administration,  March  3, 1861,  left 
the  financial  condition  of  the  National  Government 
in  a  sad  state.  The  country  had  enjoyed  a  period 
of  thirteen  years  of  peace,  yet,  strange  to  say,  under 
the  system  of  financiering  then  in  vogue,  the  Nation 
was  saddled  with  a  debt  of  187,700,000,  and  its 
credit  was  so  low  that  it  could  not  borrow  money 
in  the  markets  of  Europe  at  its  offered  rate  of  six 
per  cent.,  while  the  regular  price  was  as  low  as  three 
and  a  half  and  three.  It  was  at  this  time,  and  under 
such  state  of  affairs,  that  the  control  of  the  National 
Government  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Republi- 
can party.  The  latter  soon  had  to  contend  with  a 
rebellion  and  to  provide  the  funds  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  crushing  it  and  saving  the  Nation's  life. 
The  detail  of  the  manner  in  which  our  finances 
were  managed  to  accomplish  this  result  and  to  pro- 
vide for  the  debt  thereby  incurred,  is  too  long  to 
be  fully  introduced  in  this  connection  and  we  can 
give  only  a  summary.  Congress,  in  addition  to  in- 
creasing the  rate  of  the  tariff  and  imposing  a  tax 
on  incomes  and  domestic  manufactures,  authorized 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  issue  United 
States  notes — since  known  as  "  Greenbacks  " — and 
bonds  of  various  denominations  from  thousands  of 
dollars  down  to  fifty,  and  in  which  loyal  people  in- 
vested their  earnings,  as  a  pledge  of  their  patriotism 


808  rOLlTlCAL   PARTIES. 

ami  t)f   tlit'ir   faith  in    the   ultimate  success  of   the 
cause. 

Dirainishing  the  Debt. — In  four  years  time, 
when  the  Rebellion  collai)se(l  in  1865,  the  National 
fleht  had  increased  to  ^2,756,431,571 ;  which  was 
left  over  after  the  curretit  taxes  and  import  duties 
paid  in  during  that  period  had  been  expended, 
together  with  the  immense  sums  i)rivately  contri- 
buted by  the  loyal  people  in  the  Free-Labor  States. 
This  vast  debt  had  to  be  grappled  with  ;  and  since 
then  the  government  has  paid  (up  to  Dec.  1,  1883) 
$1,783,967,355  an  average  of  about  §70,000,000  a 
year.  The  original  debt  was  at  unusual  high  rates 
of  interest,  ranging  from  7.3-lOths  to  5  per  cent, 
but  the  Treasury,  under  the  management  of  succes- 
sive Republican  secretaries,  brought  this  down  as 
soon  as  possible  to  four  and  a  half,  four,  and  even 
to  three  per  cent,  saving  an  immense  amount  in  in- 
terest alone,  so  that  during  eighteen  years  in  the 
diminishing  of  the  debt  and  in  the  reduction  of  the 
rate  of  interest,  a  very  great  amount  of  the  burden 
of  the  original  debt  has  been  removed.  Experienced 
financiers  say  that  this  has  been  done  under  wise 
and  honest  management ;  but  our  friends,  the 
Democratic  leaders,  say  under  "  rascals,"  who 
ought  to  be  turned  out  for  the  benefit  of  the  "  dear 
people." 

The  Interest  for  Each  Individual. — In  1865 
the  annual  interest  charge  on  the  whole  debt  was 
$4.29  for  each  individual  of  the  Xation,  but  it  has 
since  been  going  down — by  diminishing  the  debt 


FINANCIAL  COMPARISONS.  809 

itself  as  well  as  by  lowering  the  rate  of  interest — till 
now  (1891)  it  is  on  an  average  of  about  thirty-six 
cents.  The  latter  result  has  been  accomplished 
mainly  by  reducing  the  rate  of  interest  on  the 
bonds  ;  not  arbitrarily,  but  by  a  fair  and  open  mer- 
cantile transaction,  in  which,  when  its  bonds  be- 
came due,  the  government,  through  the  Secretaries 
of  the  Treasury,  proposed  to  its  creditors  to  pay 
them  in  full,  or,  if  the  latter  preferred,  to  reissue 
the  bonds  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest,  but  to  run  for 
a  longer  term ;  the  exchange  was  made  to  the  satis- 
faction of  both  parties.  The  political  organization 
that  has  been  in  control  of  the  National  govern- 
ment since  March  4,  1861,  has  dealt  fairly  with  its 
creditors  and  has  invariably  repudiated  repudiation, 
even  in  its  most  insidious  forms. 

A  Republican  Congress — XLVIIth,  2d  session, 
1 883 — made  an  e£Fort  to  curtail  the  internal  revenue 
130,000,000,  and  to  adjust  the  tariff  so  as  to  di- 
minish its  income  140,000,000.  It  was  found,  how- 
ever, July  1, 1884,  that  the  reduction  of  the  former 
was  only  $19,000,000  and  that  of  the  latter  only 
123,000,000.  The  estimates  had  been  in  error,  but 
on  the  safe  side,  as  the  material  progress  of  the 
country  had  been  so  much  greater  than  anticipa- 
ted. Meanwhile,  the  net  reduction  of  the  Nation's 
debt  for  the  financial  year  ending  June  30,  1884, 
was  1101,000,000,  and  also  the  ordinary  expenses 
of  the  government  for  the  same  year  were  di- 
minished #5,000,000,  and  the  interest  on  the  debt 
to  the  same  amount.  T])o  net  debt  of  the  United 
States  on  July  1,  1884,  was  •<!l,450,O50,235.80. 


XLIV. 

CIVIL   SERVICE   REFORM. 

Begun  by  Republicans. — The  agitation  in  re- 
Bpect  to  the  Reform  of  tlie  Civil  Service  began  in 
President  Grant's  administration  ;  the  examinations 
of  candidates  as  to  their  (qualifications  were  insti- 
tuted, and  certain  rules  adopted.  In  accordance 
■with  the  spirit  of  this  movement,  President  Hayes 
issued  an  order  (June  22,  1877),  that  was  designed 
to  be  aj^plicable  to  every  department  of  the  Civil 
Service.  He  says :  "No  officer  should  be  required 
or  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  management  of 
political  organizations,  caucuses,  conventions,  or 
election  campaigns.  'No  assessment  for  political 
purposes  on  officers  or  subordinates  should  be 
allowed."  After  a  few  years  of  exjieriment,  the 
general  results  arrived  at  have  been  embodied  in  a 
law.  The  latter  was  passed  in  the  second  session 
of  the  XLVIIth  Congress  (1883),  and  was  in  the 
main  drawn  by  Mr.  Dorman  B.  Eaton,  a  Republican, 
and  also  well  known  as  an  efficient  member  of  an 
association  whose  object  for  years  has  been  to  pro- 
mote this  reform  ;  but  as  a  matter  of  faci,  it  wr.s 
presented  in  the  United  States'  Senate  by  Senator 
Pendleton  of  Ohio,  a  Democrat,  whose  views  were 
in    sympathy    with    the    movement.        Since  this 


CIVIL   SERVICE   BEFORM.  311 

ngitation  began,  and  the  law  having  gone  into  effect 
the  influence  has  been  most  excellent  on  the  ser- 
vice. The  government  officials  may  see  proper  to 
make  changes  among  those  whom  they  employ ; 
these  changes  are  sometimes  attributed,  but  very 
often  unjustly,  to  favoritism  or  political  influence. 
Still,  as  long  as  the  service  is  well  managed,  as  we 
have  just  seen,  those  who  take  the  trouble  to  under- 
stand the  workings  of  the  system  will  not  complain, 
any  more  than  the  stockholders  of  a  manufacturing 
company  would  find  fault  with  its  officers,  who 
may  make  changes  among  those  whom  they  em- 
ploy, but,  at  the  same  time,  so  manage  the  affairs  of 
the  company  as  to  pay  good  dividends.  In  this 
case  the  American  people  are  the  stockholders.  It 
is  hoped  that  under  the  regulations  thus  insti- 
tuted, the  National  as  well  as  State  governments 
may  be  able  to  employ  subordinate  officers  who  will 
perform  their  duties  efficiently,  and  that  such  ap- 
pointments will  be  made  on  the  score  of  merit  and 
not  at  the  instance  of  politicians  and  office-brokers. 

This  law  also  enjoins  an  important  regulation  in 
respect  to  the  individual  habits  of  the  official  thus 
appointed ;  Section  8  announces  :  "  That  no  person 
habitually  using  intoxicating  beverages  to  excess 
shall  be  appointed  to,  or  retained  in  any  office,  ap- 
pointment, or  employment  to  which  the  provisions 
of  this  act  are  practicable."  In  accordance,  like- 
wise, with  the  spirit  of  this  same  law.  President 
Arthur  (Jan.  1883)  issued  the  following  Rules  : 

Rule  first — No  person  in  Civil  Service  shall  use 


312  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

his  oftico,  his  official  authority  or  influonco,  either 
to  ctH'ri-e  tlio  jiolitical  action  of  any  person  or  body, 
or  to  interfere  witli  any  election. 

Kulc  second — No  j>erson  in  the  ])ul)lic  service 
shall  for  that  reason  he  under  any  obligation  to  con- 
tribute to  any  ]i(ilitical  fund  or  render  any  political 
service,  and  he  Avill  not  be  removed  or  otherwise 
prejudiced  for  refusing  to  do  so. 

Democratic  View  of  it. — Since  the  close  of  the 
Rebellion,  while  for  nearly  thirty  years  the  Repub- 
licans have  been  kept  in  office  by  the  people,  the 
leaders  of  the  Democracy  have  manifested  an  un- 
usual interest  in  talking  about  Civil  Service  Re- 
form, though  previous  to  that  time  this  reform  had 
not  received  their  special  attention.  The  passage 
of  Senator  Pendleton's  Civil  Service  Bill  in  Con- 
gress marked  an  era  in  the  progress  of  this  move- 
ment, and  the  friends  of  good  government  rejoiced. 
But,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  since  that  time 
the  practical  zeal  of  its  Democratic  friends,  so 
ardent  in  w'ords,  has  flagged  considerably.  The 
mutterings  of  disapjirobation  of  Senator  Pendle- 
ton's course  in  certain  Democratic  newsj^apers  was 
the  first  intimation  of  this  change  of  sentiment, 
which  presently  culminated  in  the  refusal  of  the 
Democratic  majority  in  the  Ohio  Legislature  to  re- 
elect him  to  the  United  States'  Senate.  Thus  Mr. 
Pendleton,  because  of  his  sincerity,  has  been  vir- 
tually consigned  to  a  political  Nirvana.  Numerous 
pajiers — organs  of  the  party — within  the  State  and 
out  of  it,  have  attributed  his  rejection  to  his  zeal  in 


CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM.  313 

the  cause  of  Civil  Service  Eeform. 

The  Good  Results.— The  theory  of  Civil  Ser- 
vice Reform  as  held  by  its  advocates  is  that  subor- 
dinate employes  of  the  Governmeut,  such  as  clerks 
in  the  departments.  Custom  Houses,  Post-Oflrices, 
etc.,  when  appointed  in  accordance  with  the  re- 
quirements of  the  law,  if  found  efficient,  should  be 
retained,  while  the  rules  (p.  311),  if  complied 
with,  preclude  their  taking  active  part  in  politics, 
or  becoming,  as  since  defined,"  offensive  partisans." 
The  advantage  of  appointing  to  office  competent 
men,  is  self-evident,  and  the  genuine  friends  of 
that  measure  of  reform  hope,  in  time,  to  rid  the 
Nation  of  what  is  known  as  the  ''  spoils  system," 
which  hitherto  has  had  so  injurious  an  effect  upon 
political  morals. 


XLV. 

THE  LIQUOR  INTEREST. 

Its  Power. — As,  in  the  times  previous  to  the  Re- 
bellion, Slavery  held  the  balance  of  power  in  all 
Xational  questions,  so  to-day,  in  its  various  fonns^ 
the  Liquor  Interest  aims  at  holding  the  same  kind 
of  power  l)etween  the  two  great  political  j^arties 
within  the  States.  This  active  force  in  elections — 
either  State  or  National — is  not,  l)y  any  means,  to 
be  despised.  It  includes  in  its  ami)]e  fold  all  the 
wholesale  dealers,  who  control  millions  of  money; 
the  keepers  of  drinking  saloons ;  the  distillers  and 
brewers,  and  great  numbers  of  those  who  raise  the 
grains  from  which  whiskey  and  beer  are  made; 
the  keepers  of  gambling  establishments,  and  all 
those  who  in  divers  ways  cater  to  the  vices  of  the 
community.  To  these,  likewise,  must  be  added  the 
foreign  icine  interest ;  this  includes  the  importers 
and  dealers  with  but  few  exceptions.  It  is  well 
known  that  beer  is  less  injurious  than  whiskey  when 
used  to  excess ;  in  consequence,  not  so  many  are  op- 
])osed  to  it  as  a  beverage :  yet  its  makers  and  vend- 
ers, are  equally  stre)uious  in  opposing  any  reform 
tending  toward  temperance  in  the  use  of  either. 
This  whole  power  is  a  iniit  in  opposing  any  political 


THE  LIQUOR  INTEREST.  315 

organization  that  dares  move  in  the  direction  of  a 
temperance  reform,  however  moderate,  and  liquor 
dealers  finding  the  Democracy  the  acknowledged 
stronghold  of  their  interest  throughout  the  Union, 
act  consistently,  Avhen  they  ally  themselves  with  it, 
and  become  its  right  arm.  This  combined  liquor 
power  is  by  no  means  unconscious  of  its  influence 
in  elections,  be  they  of  State  Legislatures  or  of 
Municipal  Officers  ;  it  has  not  yet  had  the  opportu- 
nity to  try  its  strength  directly  on  National  ques- 
tions, which  pertain  to  its  own  special  interests,  but 
not  less  than  if  the  latter  were  at  issue,  does  it 
adhere  in  National  politics  to  its  party  friends  and 
advocates  in  local  strifes.  This  interest,  conscious 
of  its  power,  is  felt  almost  everywhere,  hence  it  ia 
courted  by  unscrupulous  politicians,  and  conse-. 
qucntly  its  demands  are  made  with  an  arrogance 
that  is  astounding. 

In  an  election  (Nov.  6,  1883),  New  York  City 
furnished  more  than  thirty  candidates  for  munici' 
pal  or  state  ofticers,  who  were  personally  identified 
with  that  interest  as  keepers  or  ex-keepers  of  drink- 
ing saloons,  etc.  {The  JV.  Y.  Telegram,  Nov.  8, 
1883.) 

This  liquor  influence  pei-meates,  more  than  is 
even  suspected,  much  less  known,  the  private  life 
of  the  commimity;  corrupting  habits  and  morals 
and  bringing  sorrow  and  disgrace  upon  families,  by 
catering  to  the  vice  of  Intemperance  and  its  con- 
comitant evils.  The  indications  are  that  this  pow- 
er will  henceforth  exert  an  influence  In  controlling 


316  rOLITICAL   PA li TIES. 

elections,  l)otli  State  and  National,  almost  as  great 
as  slavery  (li<l  in  former  days.  As  an  element,  it  is 
mueh  more  diffused  than  the  spirit  of  slavery,  for 
that  never  came  north  of  IMason  and  Dixon's  line, 
e.\eej)t  as  .1  syeojjhant ;  but  the  Tuiuor  interest 
ignores  State  lines,  and  cannot  be  sectional,  but 
what  is  still  more  dangerous  to  the  Nation,  it  is 
all-])ervading. 

Its  Political  Allegiance,— If  we  judge  from 
certain  recent  State  elections,  we  are  authorized  to 
infer  that  while  a  portion  of  the  Democracy  differ 
on  the  Tariff  question,  on  that  of  liquor  they  are  as 
decitled  as  the  Hibernian  rumseller,  who  declared 
he  did  not  "  lolke  snutptuons  laws  at  all,  at  cdV* 

What  estimate  ought  we  to  make  of  the  patriot- 
ism shown  by  those  who  directly  or  indirectly  en- 
courage any  business  that  must,  from  the  nature  of 
the  case,  have  a  deleterious  influence  upon  the 
morals  and  the  industries  of  the  community  at 
large  ?  Take  for  illustration  this  subject  of  Tem- 
perance ;  wdiy  is  it  that  the  Democratic  party  con- 
tains nearly  all  those  who  make  their  living  by 
selling  intoxicating  drinks  ?  We  have  seen  that,  in 
its  very  origin,  a  hundred  years  ago,  in  the  form 
of  "  Clubs,"  it  had  the  countenance  of  the  disor- 
derly classes,  and  in  its  ranks  to-day  it  has  about  the 
same  ratio  of  the  kindred  elements  of  society.  The 
liquor  dealers,  because  of  "aid  and  comfort " given 
them  Ijy  this  i)arty,  have  become  arrogant  in  their 
demands,  and  assume  the  rir/ht^  as  individuals,  to 
selHntoxicating  drinks  to  the   injury  of  the  v  hole 


THE  LiqVOR  INTEUEST.  'Sl\ 

community.  This  assumed  privilege  they  unblush 
ingly  demand,  and  come  before  the  people  with  an 
injured  and  demure  aspect,  as  if  they  were  the  bene- 
factors rather  than  the  wrongers  of  their  fellow- 
citizens.  They  think  "the  world  is  govei*ned  too 
much  ; "  and  they  virtually  demand  for  their  business 
as  much  protection  and  encouragement  as  if  they 
were  engaged  in  making  and  selling  sewing-ma- 
chines. 

Secular  Day  of  Rest. — It  is  of  immense  im- 
portance to  the  success  of  the  liquor  traffic  that  it 
should  not  be  interfered  with  on  Sunday ;  that  day 
being  established  by  law  as  0)ie  of  rest  from  secular 
employments,  their  customers,  being  at  leisure, 
would  the  more  likely  patronize  the  saloons.  These 
dealers  are  not  specially  influenced  by  the  fact  that 
the  day  is  deemed  sacred — because  believed  to  be 
instituted  by  divine  authority — by  the  vast  majority 
of  native  Americans,  and  also  by  great  numbers,  if 
not  the  majority  of  our  fellow-citizens  of  foreign 
birth ;  but  they  ought  to  understand  that  the  laws 
enacted  in  relation  to  the  Sabbath,  or  day  of  rest, 
treat  it  only  in  its  secular  character,  and  not  in  re- 
spect to  its  religious  ohservajice,  and  thus  that  obser- 
vance is  not  made  a  religious  question.  This  is  in 
accordance  with  the  piinciple  that  the  State  does 
not  legislate  on  religion,  but  for  the  good  of  the 
whole  people,  and  that  those  who,  in  accordance 
with  their  rights  as  citizens,  demand  a  quiet 
day  to  attend  worship,  shall  not  be  interfered 
with ;  and  as  so  many  disturbances  on  Sunday  are 


318  poLiTJCAL  PAnrms. 

caused  by  drunkenness,  it  is  consistent  that  the  law 
should  rcsfrnin  tliose  who  make  thi-ir  living  by  }»ro- 
inotinLT  that  form  of  vice. 

Political  Organizations  on  the  Question. — 
The  question  of  Tempei'ance  has  liitliertt)  been  con- 
lined  to  the  action  of  State  laws,  as  well  as  to  muni- 
cipal, but  it  is  of  national  importance,  and  m\ist  be- 
come one  of  the  great  questions  of  the  future.  The 
essential  feature  of  tlie  question  will  be,  shall  the 
Nation  be  temperate  or  not ;  shall  those  whose  busi- 
ness has  the  effect  of  corrupting  the  morals,  and 
injuring  the  material  interests  of  the  peoj)le,  be  per- 
mitted to  do  so  witli  imjiunity?  This  question  will 
be  discussed  and  acted  upon  until  the  conscience  of 
the  majority  of  the  whole  people  will  become  satis- 
fied on  the  expediency  of  the  traffic  and  its  moral 
influence. 

Let  education,  intellectual  and  moral,  go  hand  in 
hand  with  temperance  and  industry,  and  we  may 
avoid  the  rock  of  ])auperism  on  which  the  '  English 
"  ruling  classes"  have  stranded  millions  of  the  work- 
ing-people of  the  kingdom.  Let  us  carefully  secure 
the  present  rising  generation  in  respect  to  these  two 
points — temperance  and  industry — and  their  moral 
self-respect,  thus  perpetuated,  will  guard  coming 
generations  from  the  degradation  of  intemperance 
and  pauperism.  We  cannot  begin  this  work  too 
soon,  for  the  American  people  do  not  wish  to  try 
the  experiment  of  going  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
line  of  "starvation  wages,"  Avith  those  v.-hom  they 
employ,  neither  do  they  expect  to  influence  their 


THE  LIQUOR  INTEREST.  319 

posterity  to  be  temperate  if  they  permit  their  youth 
to  he  corrupted  by  the  liquor-sellers. 

We  find,  at  the  present  time,  one  political  organi- 
zation mainly  in  favor  of  aiding  the  people  to  be- 
come  and  remain  temperate  :  the  other  political  or- 
ganization we  would  not  charge  with  designedly 
])romoting  intemperance  ;  but  is  it  not  virtually  do- 
ing so  by  encouraging  and  sustaining  the  rumsellers 
in  their  nefarious  work,  and  thus  aiding  indirectly 
in  debauching  the  community?  The  former  is  will- 
ing, and  in  the  main  urgent,  that  the  question 
should  be  discussed  and  acted  upon  in  some  manner 
that  will  restrain,  if  not  remove,  the  evil ;  whether 
it  be  by  amendments  to  State  constitutions,  or  by 
enforcing  existing  laws  on  the  subject.  But  above 
all,  the  people  should  be  so  enlightened  as  to  act 
intelligently  ;  and  it  is  a  convincing  proof  of  the  as- 
sertions of  this  monogram  concerning  the  Demo- 
cratic ])arty  and  its  successive  ojiponents,  that  no 
one  in  the  land  needs  to  be  told  which  political 
party  it  is  that  favors  the  immoral  and  destructive 
liquor  interest. 

The  Young  Men. — The  indications  are  that 
within  a  few  years  the  question  of  temperance 
will  become  National ;  this  may  be  inferred  from 
the  political  action  taken  in  so  many  states,  which 
is  designed  to  restrain  the  traffic  in  intoxicating 
liquors.  These  measures  have  been  introduced  in 
different  forms,  in  some  cases  the  Legislatures 
have  granted  individual  counties  what  is  known 
as   "local  option,"  in  which  the  citizens  by  their 


320  Poi.rncM.  iwiiTiHS. 

own  votes  can  r('<j:ulnto  or  ])r(iliil)it  the  sale  of 
sucli  liipiors  within  tlieir  own  liounds;  others 
atteni))t  to  seeure  tlie  end  in  \\v\y  by  consti- 
tutional provisions.  Compared  witli  tlu-  j)ast,  the 
times  seem  unusually  i»ro))itit)us  for  the  people 
throughout  the  Union  to  take  hold  of  this  question, 
after  the  Presidential  election  in  1892,  as  we  have 
seen,  after  much  discussion,  the  leading  subjects  of 
our  internal  policy,  such  as  the  tariff,  the  banking 
system  etc.,  have  been  so  an-anged  that  they  will,  in 
all  probability,  thus  remain  without  radical  changes 
for  a  long  time. 

The  evils  of  intemperance  Avithin  the  last  few 
years  have  been  increasing  more  than  usual,  and  to 
this  fact  the  attention  of  the  ]jeo])le  has  been  directed. 
The  cause  is  National  and  the  measures  for  its  re- 
straint or  removal  must  also  be  National  in  their 
extent.  The  evils  accompanying  rum-selling — its 
results,  direct  and  indirect,  such  as  drunkenness  and 
idleness,  and  often  gambling  and  its  attendant  vices, 
and  nine-tenths  of  the  crime  of  the  community — make 
an  ap])eal  to  the  conscience  of  the  entire  peo])le  to 
I'emove  the  main  cause.  These  terrible  causes  are 
not  sectional,  for  they  are  found  more  or  less  in  every 
])ortion  of  the  Union,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the 
whole  ))eople  sliould  not  go  hand  in  hand  in  their 
su]»i)ression.  Why  should  not  the  benevolent  CAcry. 
where  unite  to  rescue  those  ]>oor  unfortunate  drunk- 
ards from  their  dire  adversary  the  rumseller  and 
his  friends  ?  The  political  conflict  will  be  severe  and 
mTiy  continue  for  years,  but,  at  last,  when  the  evils 


THE  LIQUOR  INTEBEST.  321 

of  intemperance  are  more  fully  unfolded,  the  people 
will  see  and  feel  their  own  responsibility  in  the 
matter,  and  will  rise  in  their  majesty  and  crush  them 
out.  They  will  not  let  the  question  rest  xmtil  the 
co?iscience  of  the  Nation  is  satisfied,  either  in  having 
the  traffic  sufficiently  restrained  or  entirely  abolished. 
TLe  Question  of  the  Future. — The  political 
questions  of  the  i)ast  few  years  have  had  special 
reference  to  material  prosperity  and  industrial  in- 
terests ;  that  phase  will  still  continue,  but  to  this  the 
question  of  temj^erance  will  most  assuredly  be  super- 
added, because  of  its  vast  importance  to  the  well- 
being  of  society,  and  its  good  effect  on  future  gene- 
rations. Therefore,  in  no  period  of  our  history  has 
the  responsibility  of  voters  in  a  strictly  moral  sense 
been  greater  than  it  is  now  and  will  be  in  the  near 
future.  Just  here  ovu*  young  men  must  take  a  de- 
cided stand,  intelligently  and  morally.  In  dead  issues 
they  have  no  interest  excejjt  in  their  history ;  but  here 
is  a  living  issue,  whose  influence  is  limited  only  by 
time — if  even  by  that — and  with  it  the  young  men 
must  grapple.  In  respect  to  political  organizations 
the  lines  are  quite  clearly  drawn.  The  one,  as  such, 
is  in  favor  of  judicious  measures  that  will  remove  the 
evil  of  intemperance  from  the  land  ;  the  leaders  of 
the  other  appear  to  be  opposed  to  the  enforcement 
of  laws  or  measures,  that  would  attain  that  object, 
under  the  pretense  that  they  ai-e  "  sumptuary,"  and 
moreover  that  they  interfere  with  the  inherent  rights 
of  the  individual.  That  means  but  little  check  upon 
the  traffic,  except  in  the  way  of  license,   and   with 


322  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

scarcely  any  restraint  based  upon  its  evils  to  society, 
as  that  would  interfere  with  t/icir  interpretation  of 
individual  liberty,  and  the  ajthorisni  that  "the 
world  is  governed  too  much."  These  facts  are  so 
notoi'ious  that  it  seems  unnecessary  to  quote  here  in 
proof  from  general  i>latforms  of  the  i>arty  or  from 
speeches  and  letters  of  its  leaders,  to  illustrate  their 
general  tone  on  this  subject. 

We  shall,  however,  obtain  a  truer  exposition  of 
the  views  of  the  Democracy  on  the  temperance 
question  in  the  platforms  of  their  State  Con- 
ventions than  from  the  sentiments  they  put  forth 
in  their  National  Convention  every  fourth  year. 
The  reason  is  obvious ;  there  is  more  diversity  of 
opinion  in  the  whole  Xation  than  in  individual 
States,  hence  in  the  National  platforms  it  is  essen- 
tial to  arrange  statements  in  such  manner  that  they 
can  be  interpreted  in  different  ways,  or  in  other 
words,  to  conceal  when  expedient  and  to  reveal 
when  necessary.  If  one  will  look  over  the  plat- 
forms adopted  in  their  State  Conventions  in  1882, 
he  will  find  in  eighteen  of  these  that^fe  express 
themselves  in  favor  of  no  restraint  being  placed  on 
the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  ;  three  express  them- 
selves obscurely ;  07ie  is  alarmed  at  the  spread  of 
intemperance  ;  nine  give  no  expression  on  the  sub- 
ject; not  one  distinctly  declares  in  favor  of  temper- 
ance. 

In  the  State  of  New  York  the  Democratic  candi- 
date for  Secretary  of  State  (1883) — whose  private 
and  public  character  Avas  unimpeachable — was  de- 


THE  LIQUOR  INTEREST,  323 

feated  by  the  liquor-dealers,  because  some  years 
ago  he  dared  vote  in  favor  of  temperance,  and  they 
avowedly  combined  against  him  and  openly  an- 
nounced the  reason.  This  they  had  a  right  to  do, 
and  the  result  showed  their  power,  and  also  showed 
that  the  Democracy  has  some  principles  it  dare 
avow  and  act  upon. 

The  same  year,  in  an  election  in  the  State  of 
Ohio  the  Democratic  leaders  depended  for  success  on 
the  liquor  interest,  and  on  that  ground  they  suc- 
ceeded. At  a  previous  session,  the  Republican 
Legislature,  in  order  to  restrain  the  increasing  vice 
of  intemperance  in  that  State,  passed  an  ordinance 
— known  as  the  Scott  law,  from  the  name  of  the 
member  who  introduced  it — on  licensing  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  drinks  ;  the  object  being,  by  imposing 
a  high  license,  as  far  as  possible  to  secure  a  class  of 
liquor-sellers  who  would  not  cater  so  much  to  the 
unfortunate  victims  of  the  degrading  vice  of  drunk- 
enness. The  enactment  of  this  law  was  a  boon  to 
these  leaders,  as  it  afforded  them  an  occasion  for 
descanting  on  the  abstract  principles  of  "  civil 
liberty  "  and  "  sumptuary  laws,"  and  all  that.  In 
Iowa  a  similar  influence  was  exerted  and  on 
virtually  the  same  ground,  but  it  was  not  so  suc- 
cessful. In  the  State  of  Indiana  an  amendment 
was  i^roposed  to  the  State  Constitution  on  the 
subject  of  restraining  intemperance,  and  the  same 
party's  leaders  opposed  it  vehemently  at  every  step  ; 
their  most  influential  ex-United  States  Senator 
taking  the  ground,  and  clearly  implying,  that  inter- 


3-24  rul.lTlCM.    PMITIKS. 

fereuce  wiLli  the  runiscller  wiis  a  violation  of 
"  certain  inalienable  rights,"  which  were  not  to  bo 
tampered  witii  unless  "for  tiie  purpose  of  securing 
cifil  liberty." 

This  is  the  record.    Self-respecting  young  men  in 
entering  upon  their  career  as  citizens,  will  decide 
for  themselves  in  respect  to  their  duty  in  the  jirem 
ises. 

Using  Factions.— The  leaders  of  the  De- 
mocracy are  proverbially  shrewd  in  availing  them- 
selves of  factions  that  may  exist  among  their  oppon- 
ents, and  in  various  ways  leading  the  fornn?r  to  i)lay 
into  their  hands.  The  more  simple-minded  these 
factionists  are, the  more  susceptible  are  they  of  being 
utilized.  For  illustration  :  the  Prohibitionists  ran 
a  presidential  candidate  in  1884  ;  the  leaders  of 
the  movement — though  posing  as  Christian  tera- 
jierance  men — knew  that  nearly  all  their  voters 
would  come  from  the  Eepublican  party,  the  only 
political  organization  that  ever  ]iassed  a  law  re- 
stricting the  liquor  traffic.  In  New  York  State 
they  polled  more  than  25,000  votes,  and  thus  man. 
aged  by  a  plurality  of  1,047  to  elect  a  President, 
the  representative  of  the  Democracy  which  had  in 
its  platform  of  that  year  a  plank  indorsing  the 
liquor  interest,  saying,  "We  oppose  sumptuary  laws 
which  vex  the  citizen  and  interfere  with  individual 
liberty."  In  their  platforms  of  1888  and  1892  the 
party  also  adopted  the  same  plank. 


XLVI. 

YOUNG  MEN'S  RESPONSIBILITY, 

A  Necessary  Choice. — There  can  be  no  more 
interesting  class  of  voters  in  our  Nation,  than  the 
young  men,  who  are  from  year  to  year  coming  of 
age,  and  assuming  the  responsibilities  and  privileges 
of  citizenship.  It  is  higlily  important  that  they 
should  stand  right  in  politics  as  well  as  in  morals  ; 
and  that  their  influence  as  voters  should  be  thrown 
on  the  side  of  the  Nation's  material  prosperity  and 
its  pure  morality.  As  there  will  always  be  different 
opinions  and  pai-ties  as  to  the  policy  of  the  Nation, 
every  young  man  should  consider  it  is  his  duty  as  a 
citizen  to  identify  himself  with  the  one  which  he 
deems  the  most  progressive,  from  a  Statesman's 
point  of  view,  and  which  exerts  the  best  influence ; 
never  failing  to  rememl)er  that  it  is  his  moral  and 
patriotic  duty  to  inform  himself,  at  least,  so  far  as 
to  be  able  to  vote  intelligently. 

Every  young  man  of  ordinary  education  and 
reading  must  judge  for  himself,  concerning  each 
political  organization,  whether  it  holds  views  of 
policy  which  are  likely  to  promote  the  Nation's 
best  interests — both  industrial  and  moral — and  if  he 
is  of  correct  moral  principles  he  will  vote  in  accord- 
ance with  his  convictions.     In  addition,  the  various 


326  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

questions  that  come  up  in  respect  to  the  affairs  of 
tl»e  eonntry  at  large,  or  of  the  State,  the  young  man 
sliouM  as  a  matter  of  conscientious  duty  study  care- 
fully in  onler  to  vote  intelligently.  This  much,  at 
li-ast,  his  own  self-respect  requires,  that  he  never  at 
any  time  be  a  mere  ])artisan — voting  "  the  ticket, 
right  or  wrong." 

Correct  Principles  Important. — When  our  in- 
telligent young  men  are  governed  by  high-toned 
and  morally  correct  jirinciples,  shameless  ]iartisan- 
ship  will  receive  a  check,  and  the  office  of  the  dema- 
gogue become  a  sinecure.  The  latter  succeeds  only 
when  he  leads  ignorant  men,  and  this  class  ought 
not  to  be  numerous  in  these  days  of  common  schools 
and  means  of  information  on  all  subjects  pertaining 
to  the  progress  of  the  Xation.  Let  the  young  man 
study  the  jjrobable  effects  of  proposed  measures  in 
the  light  of  the  past ;  he  may  be  able  to  trace  to 
their  source  the  influences  that  have  made  the 
Xation  hitherto  prosperous,  and  almost  with  cer- 
tanity  divine  what  would  be  the  effects  of  honesty 
and  industry  upon  its  future  progress. 

"^Ve  would  say  to  every  young  man  on  entering 
upon  his  duties  as  a  citizen  :  "Never  vote  for  others 
to  carry  out  measures  for  which  you  would  not  give 
your  individual  support  as  a  legislator.  Xever  be 
led  to  do  for  the  sake  of  partisanship,  Avhat  you 
would  not  do  for  the  good  of  the  whole  community. 
Remember  as  a  principle  of  correct  action,  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  intelligent  voter  should  equal 
that  of  those  elected  to  office.     Questions  of  morals 


YOUNG  MEN'S  RESPONSIBILITY.        327 

are  often  mingled  in  the  issues  of  the  day.  Es])e- 
cially  beware  of  any  political  association,  whose  in- 
fluence is  such  that  the  immoral  classes  and  those 
who  cater  to  their  vices  find  within  its  folds  a  wel- 
some." 

It  is  well  for  young  men  to  start  right  as  citizens, 
and  not  to  identify  themselves  with  measures  and 
parties  that  in  their  more  mature  judgment  they 
would  be  likely  to  repudiate  as  mistakes  or  moral 
wrongs.  They  can  ask  themselves  which  political 
organization — as  there  will  always  be  parties — has 
the  brightest  record  ;  which  has  done  the  most  to 
]>romote  the  material  interests  of  the  Nation  ;  which 
has  labored  the  most  to  raise  the  plane  of  the 
general  intelligence  of  the  people  ;  which  one  does 
not  count  on  the  votes  of  the  vicious  classes? 
Questions  such  as  these,  every  young  man  should 
ask  himself,  when  studying  the  points  at  issue,  if  he 
wishes  to  vote  intelligently  for  what  he  deems  the 
best  interests  of  the  country. 

Voting  Qualifications. — It  is  time  the  Amei'ican 
people  took  higher  ground  in  respect  to  the  qualifica- 
tion of  those  who  elect  their  executive  ofticers  and 
their  legislators.  Let  them  demand  that,  henceforth, 
no  native-born  young  man  on  becoming  of  age,  be 
permitted  to  vote  unless  he  can  read  and  write ; 
and  also  let  them  require  the  same  qualification  of 
foreigners,  who  have  ample  time  during  the  five 
years  before  they  become  naturalized,  to  learn  to  read 
mid  lorite,  and  if  the  latter  neglect  this  duty,  let 
them  be  disfranchised  as  well  as  the  native-born^ 


r^'2S  POLITICAL    PARTIES.    ' 

The  rosult  would  lie  that  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  a 
t'CMitury,  tluTL"  woiihl  scarcely  he  an  illitt'rate  voter 
in  the  entire  Nation.  In  these  (hiys  of  conmion 
schools,  hoth  tliese  classes  should  he  disfranchised 
if  they  failed  to  comply  with  this  n-asonahle  <juali- 
iication.  And  if  youn<4  jnen  or  foreigners  from 
mental  incapacity  cannot  learn  thus  much,  let  them 
be  refused  the  privilege  on  the  score  of  imbecility — 
for  from  the  nature  of  the  case  they  could  not  vote 
intelligently.  It  is  not  difficult  to  foresee  the  effects 
of  such  an  education  combined  with  moral  and 
correct  principles,  upon  the  future  ])rogi'ess  of  the 
country.  This  question  looms  up  in  importance, 
when  the  number  of  illiterates  Avho  vote  in  the 
Union  is  taken  into  the  account,  and  that  they  are 
so  liable  to  l)e  led  astray  by  demagogues. 

The  Bright  Illiterate. — It  lias  been  sometimes 
said,  that  there  are  men,  not  knowing  how  to  read 
and  write,  who  are  more  intelligent  than  others  who 
do,  and  are,  therefore,  more  competent  to  vote  in- 
telligently. This  is  a  fallacy,  if  designed  as  an 
arsrument  ajjainst  the  small  amount  of  education 
required,  for  where  there  is  one  such  case  there  are 
a  hundred,  perhaps,  who  do  not  I'est  satisfied  with 
the  acquisition,of  being  able  to  read  and  write  merely, 
but  pursue  the  advantage  still  further.  Su^jpose 
this  statement  may  be  occasionally  true,  still  how 
much  better  qualified  would  be  tins  h-!ght.  Uliterate, 
who  has  attained  his  knowledge  perhaps  from  one 
individual  alone — for  he  must  get  it  somewhere — 
if  he  had  been  able  to  read,  and  having  thus  the 


YOUNG  MEN'S   RESPONSIBILITY.        329 

whole  field  of  knowledge  thrown  open  to  him,  he 
could  have  studied  both  sides  of  the  questions  dis- 
cussed, and  consequently  been  more  able  to  judge 
for  himself.  The  line  must  be  drawn  somewhere, 
and  certainly  the  most  fair  and  simple,  is  that  of 
bemg  able  to  read  and  xorite.,  which  opens  the  way 
to  all  the  others.  Make  this  a  qualification,  and  you 
enhance  the  dignity  of  the  voter,  a  condition  tha*- 
citizenship,  must  be  obtained  only  through  the  ex- 
ertion of  the  individual  himself,  rather  than  to  de- 
pend on  time  to  make  the  one  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  or  keep  the  other  alive  for  five  years,  that  he 
may  get  his  naturalization  papers. 

Helps  to  a  Decision. — The  wish  is  often  ex- 
pressed by  numbers  of  the  elderly  gentlemen,  who 
have  been  prominent  in  the  ranks  of  the  Democracy, 
that  the  young  men  entering  upon  their  duties  as 
citizens  should  be  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  the  party. 
No  one  of  these  gentlemen  has  our  respect  more  than 
the  venerable  and  kindly  disposed  Ex-Governor 
Horatio  Seymour,  who  has  again  and  again  advised 
this  course.  Do  these  Nestors  of  the  party  expect 
intelligent  young  men  to  enter  upon  a  series  of  dead 
issues?  The  leaders  of  the  Democracy  have  been 
holding  a  negative  position  for  the  last  twenty  years 
or  more — that  is  they  have  been  in  the  habit  of  op- 
posing measures,  which  because  of  their  excellence 
have  since  become  the  policy  of  the  land,  and  have 
the  sanction  of  the  great  majority  of  the  intelligent 
classes  among  the  people.  We  would  aid  our  young 
men  to  make  the  decision  for  themselves  in  view  of 


330  rOI.iriCAL    IWIITIES. 

tlu>  followiiiij;  well  known  fju'ts.  The  tariff,  for  illus- 
tration, has  l)oon  adjusted  to  afford  suflieient  revenue 
and  in  llu'  main,  to  pioniote  our  mechanical  in- 
dustries, nieanwliile  to  y;ive  employment  to  those 
who  depend  ui)on  their  daily  labor  for  their  living; 
our  National  banking  system,  after  a  trial  of  thirty 
years,  has  been  so  satisfactory  that  it  is  to  be  con- 
tinued with  the  sanction  of  our  bankers,  merchants 
and  all  those  who  are  especially  cTigaged  in  financial 
affairs,  this  class,  also,  includes  Democrats — no  mat- 
ter what  their  theories  may  be  as  to  abstract  notions 
about  Centralization,  State  Sovereignty,  Strict  Con- 
struction and  all  that — who,  in  all  practical  and 
financial  matters  are  Republicans,  and  also  in  favor 
of  sjiecie  ])ayments,  as  a  basis  for  moneyed  trans- 
actions;  the  Civil  Service  reform  has  been  so  ar- 
ranged that  there  appeal  s  to  be  no  reason  why  its 
general  principles  cannot  and  will  not  be  honestly 
carried  out,  according  to  the  law.  This  question 
has  been  so  long  before  the  people,  who  have  taken 
an  unusual  interest  in  the  subject,  that  even  if  tech- 
nical politicians  of  any  party  should  attempt  its 
evasion,  they  would  be  unable  to  succeed.  Those 
who  have  studied  the  politics  of  the  United  States, 
ai'e  aware  of  the  curse  brought  npon  the  land  in  the 
ai)})lication  of  the  "  Jacksonian  "  policy  of  appointing 
men  to  office,  not  because  of  their  fitness  but  as 
partisans.  The  people  may  well  ask  themselves, 
why  may  not  the  national  government  be  managed 
in  respect  to  economy  and  the  appointments  of 
^cient  subordinates^  on  the  same  principles  that 


YOUNG  MEN'S   EESPONSIBILITV.        331 

govern  great  corporations,  such  as  the  central  rail- 
roads of  New  York  or  Pennsylvania  ?  These  cor- 
])orations  retain  men  as  long  as  they  properly  perform 
their  duties,  and  they  value  at  their  true  worth  the 
experience  and  aptitude  acquired  hy  their  employees, 
from  the  sui)erintendents  down  to  the  brakemen. 
With  this  arrangement  the  stockholders  in  the  roads 
are  satisfied ;  and  the  peoi)le,  the  stockholders  in  the 
National  government,  would  be  equally  satisfied  with 
a  similar  efliciency  in  the  "  Civil  Service  "  of  the 
country. 


XLVII. 
DEMOCRATIC  SELF-DISTRUST. 

Uncertainty  of  Principle  and  Action. — In 
writinuj  tlie  history  of  a  political  organization — so 
diffc-Tunt  from  ordinary  history — it  is  legitimate  to 
notice  what  it  does,  and  also  what  it  attempts ;  be- 
cause the  latter  is  not  without  influence,  especially 
if  the  attemj^ts  are  in  the  direction  of  changing  the 
laAvs  in  respect  to  financial  or  industrial  matters. 
Though  such  efforts  may  not  be  successful,  they 
have  the  effect  of  unsettling  values,  and  throw  a 
shadow  of  uncertainty  over  the  business  of  the  coun= 
try,  and  this  is  more  likely  to  be  the  result  when  the 
people  are  so  well  satisfied  with  the  existing  laws 
and  regulations,  that  they  do  not  even  wish,  much 
less  petition  Congress  to  make  changes,  but  prefer 
to  let  well  alone. 

It  is  singular  that  for  the  last  few  years,  when 
the  Democracy  gained  an  election,  in  consequence 
of  which  they  could  control  National  legislation,  the 
whole  mercantile  and  industrial  community  became 
anxious  lest  they  would  pass  laws  whose  effect 
would  injure  the  business  interests  of  the  country. 
■The  well  known  theories  of  many  of  their  promi- 
nent leaders  on  the  general  subject  of  financial  mat* 


DEMOCRATIC    SELF-DISTBUST.  333 

ters  being  at  variance  with  the  received  principles 
of  experienced  commercial  men,  manufacturers  and 
financiers,  a  mysterious  influence  pervades  the  pub- 
lic mind,  and  capitalists  curtail  their  operations,  or 
hesitate  to  invest  in  enterprises  that  might  be  thus 
affected.  This  uncertainty  thus  brought  about, 
meanwhile,  injures  no  persons  really  so  much  as 
those  who  work  for  Avages,  because  they  are  less  able 
to  bear  the  wrong. 

Anxiety  of  the  Leaders. — This  distrust  is  not 
tlie  outgrowth  of  partisanship,  for  it  often  pervades 
the  minds  of  thousands  and  thousands  of  intelligent 
gentlemen,  who  are  theoretically  professed  Demo- 
crats, but  on  financial  and  industrial  matters,  are  in 
accordance  with  those  of  the  Republican  organiza- 
tions. The  more  sagacious  leaders  of  the  Democ- 
racy are  also  worried,  but  for  a  different  reason ; 
they  are  apprehensive  lest  by  some  maladroit  legis- 
lation, their  majority  in  Congress  will  become  an 
obstacle  to  the  immediate  political  success  of  the 
organization.  One  cause  of  this  universal  distrust 
among  the  intelligent  of  both  parties,  is  that  the 
Democratic  leaders  in  Congress  are  so  often  ham- 
pered by  pledges  given  to  all  sorts  of  theorists  on 
juch  subjects  as  the  Tariff,  Free  Trade,  or  the  Na- 
tional Banking  system.  Though  the  latter  has  been 
f((Und  remarkably  efficient  for  the  last  twenty  or 
more  years  in  promoting  mercantile  exchanges 
throughout  the  land,  and  at  scarcely  any  expense, 
yet  the  people  have  the  impression  that  many  of  the 
prominent  leaders  in  the  Congress  (1884)  are  on 


,3;u  POLITICAL  r.[/rriKs. 

llu!  iilort  to  iiijiiii'  the  systciu  by  indirect,  if  tliey 
cannot  by  dircet,  means. 

Evi'n  the  more  considernte  editors  of  their  influ- 
ential ))ai)ersare  ill  at  ease,  -when  tlieir  party  lias  con- 
trol oidy  of  the  Lower  House  of  Congress,  lest  they 
"  commit  some  bluiuler" — as  they  ])ut  it — that  Avould 
jeopardize,  not  t/ie  interests  of  the  coiuitri/,  but  the 
syicceBS  oi  the  party  itself  m  future  elections.  We 
would  not  by  any  means  make  a  charge  of  such  lack 
of  ]iatriotism,  but  really  the  leaders  to  Avhom  we 
refer  must  have  overlooked  that  jjhase  of  the  subject, 
for  they  only  mention  the  danger  of  failure  that 
would  accrue  to  party  organization  in  future  elec- 
tions, especially  the  impending  Presidential  one  in 
1884.  It  is  still  more  strange  that  this  sentiment 
seems  to  be  all-pervading,  for  even  in  the  counsels 
given  by  the  venerable  emeritus  leaders,  who  are 
not  in  active  political  life,  all  other  considerations 
are  deemed  of  secondary,  if  not  tertiary  importance, 
compared  Avith  that  of  the  future  political  success 
of  the  organization. 

The  "Warning  Voices. — These  venerable  Nestors 
seem  of  late  to  have  been  more  than  usually  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  caution,  which  they  have  urged 
should  be  the  ruling  genius  in  the  councils  of  the 
Forty-Eighth  Congress,  (1883-1885).  They  had  evi- 
dently in  mind  its  first  session.  The  leaders  in  that 
body  were  implored  again  and  again  not  to  do  any- 
thing rash  in  relation  to  the  finances  or  the  tariff ; 
that  is  such  as  would  awaken  suspicion  in  the  minds 
of  the  people.     Said  the  venerable  Democratic  ex- 


DBMOCRATIC  SELF-DISTEUST.  335 

Senator  Eaton  of  Connecticut ;  "  A  tariff  for  revenue 
only,  lost  us  the  Presidential  election  in  1880.  A  like 
2)latforni,  or  even  a  doubt  as  to  the  disturbance  of 
the  tariff  policy  of  the  country  would  defeat  us  again. 
We  cannot  afford  to  adoj)t  a  policy  that  is  offensive 
to  Indiana,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  New 
Jersey  and  my  own  State,  Connecticut."  Does  the 
admonition  thus  given  impliedly  indicate  that  the 
impending  Presidential  canvass  should  be  entered 
upon  imder  false  colors  ?  But,  says  an  Editor  of  a 
leading  journal  of  the  organization:  "The  Demo- 
cratic party  has  made  a  tariff  record  which  it  cannot 
escai)e.  The  question  is.  Shall  the  party  run  away, 
pursued  by  tlie  Ile})ublicans,  or  shall  it  stand  its 
ground,  unfurl  its  flag,  and  fight  for  its  convictions  ?  " 
When  the  Forty-Eighth  Congress  elected  for  Speaker 
an  out  and  out  Free-Trader,  said  another  tnlluontial 
pa])er  of  the  same  party.  "  The  Democratic  ma- 
jority of  the  House  of  Representatives,  have  defi- 
nitely planted  themselves  xipon  the  doctrine  of  Free- 
Trade,  and  have  declared  their  hostility  to  evert/ 
fortn,  degree  and  kind  of  tariff  protection  toward 
American  industry."  This  choice  of  a  speaker  is 
looked  ujion  by  this  same  ])aper  as  "  a  bhoider"  as 
such  position  taken  by  the  House  might  interfere 
with  the  party's  success  in  the  next  Presidential 
election  ! 

Another  influential  Democratic  paper  finds  con- 
solation in  the  fact  that  though  the  election  of  a 
Free-Trade  S])eaker  is  a  misfortune,  yet  it  hopes 
"  Congress  will  act  prudently."     For  what  purpose  ? 


330  Pn/JTICAL    IWRTIKS. 

For  llic  Li'Dod  of  tlu'  country?  No; — l)u(  in  order 
to  secure'  success  in  1SS4.  Still  another  is  (juite 
worried,  nnd  tliinks  tliat  the  election  of  such  a 
Spciker  "  can  ilo  no  haiiii  because  the  President  and 
the  Senate  are  1  Jt'])ul)Iicans  !  "  This  lani^uage  sounds 
strange.  Must  the  united  irisJotn  of  the  great  Democ- 
ratic organization  be  thus  hampered  in  doing  what 
that  wisdom  would  dictate,  by  a  llejniblican  Presi- 
dent and  Senate  ?  But  in  this  case  the  latter  is  looked 
upon  as  ^friendly  obstruction  that  saves  the  Democ- 
racy from  its  own  leaders. 

Though  the  majority  in  Congress  at  the  request  of 
the  caucus  rejected  the  advice  of  the  ex-Senator,  it 
so  far  compromised  as  to  introduce  the  new  Speaker 
to  the  country,  not  as  an  advocate  of  Free-Trade, 
Avhich  would  be  decidedly  radical,  but  as  a  "  Tariff 
lleformer,"  and  consistent  with  this  role,  he  an- 
nounced his  position,  saying  he  was  not  in  favor  of 
"sudden  and  radical  changes  in  the  laws  and  regu- 
lations affecting  the  commercial  interests  of  the  peo- 
ple." 

Is  it  not  clear  that  the  Democratic  party  is  dis- 
trusted for  the  most  part  by  its  own  wisest  men? 


XLVIII. 
A  COMPAKISOK 

Democratic  Theories. — The  question  may  be 
raised  why  the  lenders  of  the  Democracy  do  not 
have  some  available  policy  that  would  enlist  the 
sympathies  of  the  intelligent  portion  of  the  Ameri- 
can people.  It  would  seem  that  the  only  policy 
they  can  adopt,  if  any,  is  that  of  Opposition,  as 
long  as  the  people  are  so  contented  with  their  own 
present  policy  as  represented  by  the  Republican 
Legislation,  which  covers  the  whole  theory  of  man- 
aging the  finances,  of  deriving  revenue,  of  promot-. 
ing  mechanical  industries,  and  thereby  giving 
employment  to  our  workpeople,  skilled  or  un- 
skilled ;  and  while  they  are  equally  interested  in 
other  subjects,  such  as  fair  and  honest  elections, 
and  the  promotion  of  education  and  temperance. 
In  their  present  state  of  self-complacency  on  these 
points,  it  would  seem  difficult  to  change  the  senti-. 
ments  of  the  American  people  to  favor  opposite 
theories,  which  by  no  means  are  original,  but  as  far 
as  they  have  been  put  in  practice  hitherto  have 
ever  proved  failures  ;  and  the  people  are  consistent 
with  their  convictions,  when  they  are  unwilling  to 
re-adopt  such  theories  and  to  run  the  risk  of  ruining 
their    present   industrial   and   financial    condition. 


33S  POLITICAL    IWRTIKS. 

Tlu-  .Aiiu'iicMii  ])i'(^]>]o  Imve  ])r()siierc(l  beyond  com- 
]>;irf  ;  and  yet  tlu'V  have  never,  except  as  experi- 
ments for  !i  time,  adopted  the  distinctive  Demo- 
cratic theories  in  relation  to  their  financial  measures 
or  their  indnstries.  The  ardent  Democrat,  as  he 
reads  the  history  concerning  the  api)lication  of  so 
many  of  his  party's  distinctive  theories,  must  be 
inclined  with  a  feeling  of  disappointment  to  apolo- 
gize for  their  failure  to  make  a  permanent  impres- 
sion u])on  the  material  progress  of  the  land,  or  to 
exert  influences  that  would  tend  to  elevate  the 
peo2)le  intellectually  and  morally.  To-day  the  dan- 
ger seems  to  be  that  the  organization  will  come 
under  the  control  of  leaders  who  are  theoretical 
rather  than  practical  in  respect  to  the  principles  of 
political  economy. 

Republican  Practice. — On  the  other  hand  the 
lieiml)lican  organization  has  no  apologies  to  make 
to  this  f/eneration,  as  it  has  originated  and  carried 
forward  measures  of  vast  importance  to  the  welfare 
of  the  peo])le.  It  was  forced  by  the  Southern  wing 
of  the  Democracy,  when  the  latter  fired  on  Fort 
Sumter,  to  take  up  arms  to  defend  the  integrity  of 
the  Union ;  it  was  forced  by  military  necessity  to 
free  the  slaves,  and  ever  since  it  has  labored  to 
elevate  them  by  establishing  schools  for  their 
benefit.  Having,  in  order  to  protect  him  in  his 
rights,  made  the  freedman  a  citizen,  they  have  thus 
given  him  a  chance  to  ])rei)are  himself  to  exercise 
intelligently  the  privilege  of  voting,  which  was 
given  as  a  matter  of  ex])ediency  to  enable  him  to 


FINAL  COMPARISON.  339 

protect  himself,  as  it  was  in  the  form  of  hostile 
legislation  that  oppression  for  the  time  bore  hard 
upon  him.     (American  People.,  pp.  1037-1039.) 

Neither  need  it  fear  the  censure  of  'posterity.,  as 
the  measures  it  has  introduced  must,  from  their 
nature,  redound  to  the  great  benefit  of  future  gen- 
erations :  such  as  the  dotting  over  of  the  vast  terri- 
tories of  former  unavailable  lands  with  homesteads 
and  farms,  and  threading  the  same  regions  with 
railroads, — measures  that  even  now  in  their  effects 
are  adding  immensely  to  the  prosperity  and  happi- 
ness of  the  peo^jle  at  large.  And  this  is  only  an 
earnest  of  what  will  be  tlie  result  in  the  future.  Of 
the  same  beneficent  character  is  the  establishment 
of  public  schools,  for  the  first  time,  throughout  the 
former  slave-holding  States,  and  the  provision  for 
educating  both  races,  white  and  colored,  and  paving 
the  way  for  their  success  in  time  to  come  in  mate- 
rial prosperity,  be  it  in  cultivating  the  soil  or  in 
manufacturing  industry.  The  most  important  of 
all,  is  this  influence  of  education  combined  with 
pure  morality,  thus  brought  to  bear  upon  the  mass 
of  the  people,  without  regard  to  race  or  condition, 
either  in  the  present  or  in  former  times. 

In  the  same  class  of  benefits  are  the  measures  of 
finance  established  in  the  organization  of  National 
Banks,  whose  notes  are  at  par  throughout  the 
Union,  because  they  are  secured  by  United  States 
bonds,  and  are  equal  to  gold  in  value.  Thus  by 
means  of  these  banks  the  merchant  can  do  business 
anywhere   in    the   Union,    virtually    without    the 


340  POLITICAL    rARTIES. 

expense  of  discounts,  or  one  can  travel  all  over  the 
land  without  being  subjected  to  inconveniences  for 
want  of  funds  that  are  current.  In  marked  con- 
trast is  this  with  the  Democratic  system  of  State 
l>;iid<s,  whose  notes  even  if  they  were  sound,  were 
not  at  ]»ar,  outside  their  own  State.  In  conse- 
quence the  business  of  the  country  at  that  time 
(1836-1863)  was  enormously  taxed  in  the  form  of 
discounts  or  exchange,  when  money  was  paid  at 
distant  points.  Yet  in  the  face  of  this,  which  is 
undeniable  history,  some  of  the  Democratic  leaders 
even  now  favor  a  return  to  the  State  system. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  Democratic  theories  have 
always  been  specious  and  outwardly  attractive, 
especially  to  the  unthinking;  but  in  practical 
statesmanship  their  record  is  but  a  barren  one. 


XLIX. 

DEMOCRATIC  SUCCESS. 

Ill  the  Presidential  election  of  1884  Grover 
Cleveland,  of  New  York  State,  the  candidate  of 
the  Democratic  party,  was  elected,  he  having  car- 
ried that  State  by  a  ])lurality  of  1,047  votes  over 
James  G.  Blaine,  of  Maine,  the  candidate  of  the 
Uepublican  party,  thus  securing  Xew  York's 
thirty- six  electoral  votes.  In  that  State  there 
were  cast  in  this  election  about  52,000  votes  for 
Presidential  candidates  of  other  parties  than  the 
main  two, — Proliibitionists,  Labor  party,  etc. 

A  noticeable  feature  in  the  political  situation  at 
that  time  was  the  relative  position  of  the  two  great 
parties  on  the  tariff  question.  Under  the  existing 
tariff  the  accumulations  of  money  in  the  U.  S. 
Treasury  were  so  great  as  to  leave  a  surplus  of 
more  than  a  hundred  millions  of  dollars  annually. 
Thoughtful  men  of  all  parties  recognized  the 
danger  of  this  as  a  temptation  to  extravagance, 
and  even  to  fraudulent  claims  and  iniquitous 
schemes  of  plunder.  Both  parties,  therefore,  de- 
nounced extravagant  expenditure  in  their  plat- 
forms and  promised  to  revise  the  tariff,  regulating 
its  inequalities  and  reducing  the  surplus-. 


'M-2  I'OLITU'AL    PAllTIES. 

The  Political  Slogan. — Eiuly  in  the  canvass 
Ji  Now  York  City  Democratic  newsi)a])er  raised 
the  cry,  "Turn  the  rascals  out!"  meaning  the 
Kepublicans.  The  persistent  reiteration  of  this 
pohtical  slogan  throaghout  the  countiy  by  the 
press  of  the  inirty  may  have  itilluenced  multitudes 
of  well-meaning  but  unintelligent  voters.  The 
utter  untrutlifulness  of  this  im})lication  in  rcs2)ect 
to  the  financial  dishonesty  of  the  party  in  power 
was  thoroughly  proved  by  means  of  the  action  of 
the  incoming  Democratic  administration  itself. 
Tiiat  action  was;  ja-oper;  it  was  nothing  more  nor 
les^  than  a  comi)rehensive  and  thorough  investi- 
gation, or  auditing  the  account  books  of  the  Re- 
publican paity  for  six  administration? — twenty- 
four  years.  During  this  period  had  been  collected 
moneys  in  various  ways  and  from  numerous 
sources — such  as  dues  from  the  Custom  Houses 
and  the  internal  revenue,  a  war  tax,  levied  at  first 
upon  numberless  domestic  articles,  but  of  late 
years  only  upon  tobacco  and  alcohol — and  also  the 
disbursement  of  these  vast  sums,  the  vouchers 
for  which  were  in  the  archives  of  the  various  de- 
partments. These  moneys  exceeded  by  far  thfi 
entire  amount  of  funds  collected  and  disbursed 
during  tiie  eigliteen  previous  administrations,  or 
the  seventy-two  years  of  the  existence  of  the  Na- 
tion. At  tlie  end  of  this  elaborate  investigation 
or  auditing  of  the  accounts  there  was  found  a  de- 
ficiency of  a  few  cents.  Such  was  the  verification 
of  the  integrity  w^th  which  the  financial  affairs 


DEMOCRA  TIC  S UCCESS.  343 

of  the  national  government  had  been  administered 
by  the  Republican  party  from  March  4,  1861,  to 
March  4,  1885— an  instance  of  faithfulness  un- 
equalled in  our  history.     (See  pp.  305-309). 

The  Financial  Laws  Remain. — The  present 
Democratic  administration  (1888)  has  been  in  ex- 
istence three  years  and  six  months,  to  September 
1st.  The  general  laws  under  which  it  has  gov- 
erned were  enacted  by  Congress  in  previous  ad- 
ministrations. Tlie  law  in  relation  to  the  manage- 
ment of  the  finances  has  not  been  changed,  and 
in  consequence  the  latter  have  been  conducted  on 
the  usual  basis.  Sometimes  the  rulings  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  have  been  different  in 
some  respects  from  those  of  their  predecessors, 
but  in  the  main  they  have  not  contravened  the 
spirit  of  the  existent  laws. 

Tariff  Revision  Attempted. — The  House  of 
Eepresentatives  of  the  49tli  Congress,  elected  on 
the  same  day  with  Mr.  Cleveland,  had  a  Demo- 
cratic majority  of  43.  Its  labors  during  eight 
months  comprised  the  enactment  of  the  usual 
laws,  appropriations,  etc.,  requisite  to  carry  on 
the  Government,  and  the  Presidential  Succession 
Act,  and  also  for  increasing  the  navy.  It  labored, 
however,  during  the  greater  portion  of  its  first 
session  to  revise  the  existing  tariff  ;  but  the  dif- 
ference of  opinion  among  the  members  of  the 
party  itself  was  very  great  in  respect  to  the  lead- 
ing principles  to  be  applied  in  such  revision. 
Those   known  as  favoring    ''  free  trade,"  or  "■  a 


3U  POLITICAL    PMiriEfi. 

tanir  f(.i-  rovciuic  only,"  seomcd  to  i)rev;iil — tluit 
is,  niaking  the  obtaining  of  roveniie  the  primary 
object  of  the  turilf,  thus  siibonlinating  to  that 
idea  the  feature  of  proteeiiiig  ami  enhirgiiig 
Americau  manufactuix's,  wiiieii,  as  its  friends 
chiim,  results  in  keeping  up  the  w.-iges  of  the 
American  workpeople  to  a  standard  that  will 
l)romote  their  mental  and  moral  elevation  and 
l)hysical  comfort.  The  latter  characteristic  of 
the  existing  tariff  had  already  been  recognized 
by  that  close  observer  of  our  Congressional 
doings,  the  Loudon  Times,  which,  when  speaking 
of  the  measures  introduced  by  Congress  since 
186 1,  says  in  its  issue  July  12,  1880,  page  11  : 
"  The  object  of  Iheir  statesmen  is  not  to  secure  the 
largest  amount  of  ivealth  \)-cvenue,^^  but  to  Icee})  up 
by  ivhatever  means  the  standard  of  comfort  among 
the  laboring  classes.'" 

The  prominent  feature  of  the  tariff  measure 
discussed  during  the  first  session  of  the  49th  Con- 
gress, known  as  the  Morrison  bill,  was  the  "hori- 
zontal "  idea  (see  pages  92-94),  except  that  it  did 
not  propose  to  reduce  all  duties  to  a  uniform  level, 
but  to  reduce  them  all  by  a  uniform  rate,  taking 
off  20  per  cent  of  every  existing  impost.  It  did 
not  pass  the  House,  in  consequence  of  the  diff'ei- 
erence  of  opinion  among  the  members  of  the 
Democratic  majority,  and  the  almost  solid  opposi- 
tion of  the  Republican  minority.  No  special  pro- 
gress in  the  direction  of  revising  the  tariff  or  re- 
ducing the  sui-plus  was  made  during  the  second 
session  of  the  49th  Congress. 


JJKMOCRATIC  SUCCESS.  345 

Congressional  Votes  Cast  in  Different 
Sections. — Tlie  i)latforms  of  both  the  leading 
ptirties  (1884)  agreed  iu  the  demand  for  honest 
elections — the  Democrats  saying  :  "  We  believe  in 
a  free  ballot  and  a  fair  count;"  the  Republicans: 
"  The  perpetuity  of  our  institutions  rests  upon 
the  maintenance  of  a  free  ballot,  an  honest  count, 
and  correct  returns."  Throughout  the  Union, 
according  to  law,  the  number  of  inhabitants  repre- 
sented by  each  Congressman  is  the  same.  In 
1884  it  was,  in  round  numbers,  151,000;  but  iu 
the  election  of  that  year  there  was  a  discrepancy 
well  worth  noticing  in  this  connection.  The 
average  number  of  votes  cast  for  each  member  of 
Congress  in  the  different  sections  was  as  follows: 
In  the  twenty-two  original  free-labor  States  it  was 
34,595;  in  the  five  border  States  it  was  29,360; 
and  in  the  eleven  recent  Confederate  States  it  was 
22.938. 

Tariff  Revision  Again. — In  the  election  (1886) 
for  members  of  the  Fiftieth  Congress,  the  Demo- 
cratic majority  in  the  Lower  House  was  reduced 
to  nineteen,  including  all  not  belonging  to  the 
]?epublican  party.  In  December,  1887,  President 
Cleveland  sent  a  message  to  the  Congress,  exclu- 
sively devoted  to  urging  that  body  to  make  a  prompt 
and  wise  revision  of  the  tariff,  in  view  of  the 
rapidly-increasing  surplus  and  the  impossibility  of 
properly  using  the  money  thus  gathered  upon  im- 
ports. The  response  to  this  was  a  bill  introduced 
by  Mr.  Eoger  Q.  Mills,  of  Texas,  and  the  first 
session  of  the  Fiftieth  Congress  has  been  mainly 


34(1  roi.rricM.  iwutiks. 

devoted  to  discussing  this  measure.  In  the  Mills 
bill,  however,  the  horizontal  feature  has  been 
droppeil,  tliough  the  friends  of  the  present 
protoctive  tariff  think  that  the  effect  of  the  bill 
will  be,  in  another  form,  virtually  to  remove  the 
protective  quality  of  the  existing  law,  by  diminish- 
ing, without  what  they  consider  to  be  proper  dis- 
crimination, the  rates  of  import  duties,  thus 
curtailing  tlie  revenue;  and  in  addition,  by  the 
free  admission  of  certain  classes  of  raw  material, 
which  we  can  produce  in  great  part  ourselves — 
such  as  wool.  The  Republican  members  of  Con- 
gress claim  that,  while  the  tariff  should  be  revised, 
it  should  be  done  by  its  friends,  and  in  the  in- 
terest of  our  own  manufacturing  industries,  })lacing 
a  high  rate  upon  foreign  importations;  while  they 
would  diminish  the  surplus  revenue  by  taking  off 
the  internal  tax  on  tobacco  and  on  alcohol  used  in 
the  arts. 

Action  Under  Previous  Laws. — In  the 
Democratic  platform  adopted  at  St.  Louis  (1888) 
much  merit  is  claimed  for  the  Cleveland  adminis- 
tration because  of  its  reclaiming  lands  that  were 
forfeited  by  certain  railway  companies,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  failure  of  the  latter  to  fulfil  their 
contracts  for  the  completion  of  these  roads.  These 
forfeitures  were  m;tde  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
on  the  subject  which  were  enacted  by  Congress 
previous  to  March  4, 1885.  Neither  the  Forty-ninth 
nor  the  Fiftieth  Congress  passed  any  law  on  the 
subject,  and  the  Cleveland  administration  is  entitled 


DEMOCRATIC  SUCCESS.  347 

to  tlie  credit  of  doing  what  was  clearly  its  duty,  in 
carrying  out  the  provisions  of  a  law  already  being- 
enforced. 

Civil  Service  Reform. — This  reform  was 
commended  in  the  ]ihitfornis  (1884)  of  both  the 
leading  parties.  While  originally  introduced  into 
Congress  by  a  Democratic  Senator  (p.  310),  the 
Eepublicans  had  taken  the  initiative  in  this  reform 
during  General  Grant's  administration,  when  a 
commission  was  appointed  to  consider  and  report 
on  the  subject  ;  and  under  President  Hayes  the 
orders  and  rules  were  issued  (1877).  The  general 
principles  of  the  latter  were  embodied  finally  in 
a  law  enacted  by  Congress  and  signed  by  Presideiit 
Vrthur  in  1883  (see  pp.  310-313).  The  reader  is 
eferred  to  the  record  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  adminis- 
ration  for  the  evidence  of  the  manner  in  which 
jave  been  carried  out  the  announced  principles, 
genuine  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  civil  service 
laws,  and  of  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  commis- 
sioners, in  connection,  finally,  with  the  orders  of 
the  President  himself  in  regard  to  their  enforce- 
ment, extension  to  new  departments,  etc.  As  a 
basis  for  removal  from  office  was  utilized  the  charge 
of  "offensive  partisanship."  The  sole  interpreters 
of  this  indefinite  phrase  were  the  President  and  his 
subordinates.  Within  two  years  and  a  half  from 
March  4,  1885,  of  the  56,134  persons  who  at  that  date 
held  United  States  offices,  42,992  were  removed  and 
their  places  filled  by  others. 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1880,  TO  APRIL,  1896. 

In  the  Presidential  election  in  1888  Benjamin 
Harrison,  of  Indiana,  was  the  Republican  candidate, 
and  Grover  Cleveland,  of  New  York,  was  renomi- 
nated by  the  Democrats.  Harrison  was  elected,  and 
took  office  on  March,  1889. 

The  American  people  were  unusually  interested 
in  the  celebration  of  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the 
first  inauguration  of  George  Washington  as  President 
of  the  United  States.  This  being  at  the  close  of  the 
first  hundred  years  of  the  nation's  life,  added  zest  to 
the  ceremonies,  and  elicited  in  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple, universally,  a  strong  national  sentiment  of  union 
and  of  patriotism.  The  occasion  was  properly  ob- 
served thoughout  the  nation,  but  special  interest 
was  centred  in  New  York,  because  in  that  city  the 
original  inauguration  took  place.  President  Harri- 
son and  his  Cabinet,  and  great  numbers  of  prom- 
inent citizens,  attended  and  participated  in  the  ser- 
vices, which  lasted  for  three  days  ("  Four  Hundred 
Years,"  etc.,  pp.  1131-1138). 

The  Legacies. — The  Cleveland  administration 
left  as  legacies  to  its  successor  several  negotiations, 
which  it  had  had  for  some  time  under  discussion, 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1SS9,   TO   APRIL,  1896.     349 

but  was  unable  to  finish.  One,  the  "  Samoau  affair," 
was  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  condition  ;  the  parties 
specially  interested  were  Germany,  England,  and 
the  United  States.  Negotiations  were  promptly 
commenced,  and  under  the  skilful  management  of 
Mr.  James  G.  Blaine,  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  ad- 
ministration secured  satisfactory  adjustment  of  the 
then  existing  difficulties. 

The  fi-amiug  of  a  more  effective  extradition  treaty 
with  Canada  was  in  progress,  but  also  left  unfin- 
ished. This,  too,  was  concluded,  its  main  features 
being  the  addition  of  a  large  number  of  offences  for 
committing  which  persons  could  be  mutuall}'-  ex- 
tradited. This  law  has  iu  effect  materially  dimin- 
ished the  size  of  the  American  colony  within  the 
bounds  of  our  northern  neighbor.  The  Behriug 
Sea  controversy  was  also  among  the  legacies.  The 
entire  subject  in  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States,  was  transferred  for  settlement  to  a 
court  of  arbitration.  That  court  in  due  time  gave 
its  decision,  in  which  both  parties  acquiesced. 

The  McKinley  Bill.  —  The  most  important 
measure  of  the  Harrison  administration  was  the 
enactment,  in  1890,  of  what  is  known  as  the  McKinley 
Tariff  or  Bill  ;  thus  named  from  the  chairman  of  the 
Connnittee  of  Ways  and  Means,  which  reported  this 
bill  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Under  the 
recent  and  present  circumstances  a  brief  sketch  of 
this  financial  measure  is  proper,  in  order  that  the 
intelligent  among  the  American  people  should  have 
a  succinct  and  clear  view  of  the  salient  points  of  this 


350  roLITlCAL   PAirrih'S. 

tiirilY  logishition,  which  has  become  a  hvndmark  in 
our  liuancial  history. 

Let  it  be  specially  borne  in  ii)iiul,  tliat  the  List 
Congress,  which  enacted  this  bill,  cont;iined  an  un- 
usual number  of  members  who  had  made  the  revenue 
aflairs  of  the  nation  a  subject  of  special  study. 
These  statesmen  had  been  for  years,  and  during  try- 
ing periods,  careful  observers  of  the  practical  work- 
ings of  the  financial  policy  of  the  Government,  and  iu 
moulding  which  policy  many  of  them  had  personally 
taken  a  part.  This  tarifT  Avas  the  legitimate  out- 
growth of  the  original  bill  of  18G1-62,  and  of  a  series 
of  amendments,  which  were  respectively  introduced, 
in  order  to  adapt  the  measure  to  the  changing  con- 
ditions in  the  course  of  twentij-eirjht  eventful  years. 
The  majority  of  this  Congress  xised  common- sense, 
observation,  and  experience  in  framing  this  tariff, 
which  passed  the  House  May  21,  and  the  Senate 
September  10,  1890,  and  was  promptly  signed  by 
President  Harrison,  who  from  the  beginning  had 
kept  himself  intelligently  in  touch  with  the  princijDles 
contained  in  the  bill.  It  went  into  eflect  on  the  Gtb 
of  October  the  same  year. 

The  Cost  of  Production. — This  bill,  more  than 
an}'  previous  one,  was  framed  on  the  basis  of  the 
cost  of  production  of  the  competing  articles  of 
foreign  manufacture.  Since  the  item  of  wages 
comes  in  as  the  principal  factor  of  such  cost,  it  was 
essential  to  obtain  authentic  data,  on  that  point,  in 
order  to  institute  a  fair  comparison  of  the  wages 
paid  abroad  with  those  paid  in  the  United  States. 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1SS9,   TO  APRIL,  1S9G.     351 

To  secure  this  important  data,  upon  Avliicli  the 
schedules  of  our  tariffs  ought  to  be  based,  Pi-esi- 
dent  Hayes's  administration  (March  4,  1877-81) 
instructed  tlie  United  States  consuls  in  Europe  to 
take  note,  among  other  matters,  of  the  wages  paid 
Oi^eratives  at  the  respective  ports  where  thej'  were 
stationed.  The  information  thus  secured  was 
deemed  most  valuable,  and  in  consequence  the 
custom  still  prevails.  Statistics  of  wages  are  easily 
obtained  and  appear  to  be  unusually  reliable. 
These  reports  made  known  the  startling  fact  that 
the  average  amount  of  wages  paid  in  the  United 
States  for  similar  service  was  more  than  double 
that  paid  in  Great  Britain  ;  about  two-thirds  more 
than  in  France,  Belgium,  and  Denmark,  while  we 
paid  three  times  as  much  as  was  paid  in  Italy,  Spain, 
and  Germany,  and  four  times  as  much  as  in  the 
Netherlands. 

These  remarkable  facts,  revealed  from  time  to 
time  by  the  reports  of  the  consuls,  stimulated  in- 
vestigation in  another  direction,  and  Congress,  in 
1882,  authorized  President  Arthur  to  appoint  a  com- 
mission of  nine  members,  gentlemen  selected  from 
civil  life,  and  "  who  were  recognized  as  men  of 
great  intelligence  on  these  general  subjects."  The 
commission  was  to  investigate  the  numerous  ques- 
tions pertaining  "  to  the  establishment  of  a  judicious 
tariff,  or  the  revision  of  the  existiog  tariff,  upon  a 
scale  of  justice  to  all  interests." 

This  commission,  by  means  of  sub-committees, 
spent  a  number  of  months  in  visiting  manufacturing 


•3r)2  POLITICAL   PAUTIKS. 

and  coiuincrcial  districts  tbrougliout  the  Union, 
Hiul  in  taking  testimony  relevant  to  the  subjects  in 
lian^l.  The  commission  made  its  report  to  the 
XLYIIth  Congress,  at  its  second  session,  December 
■t,  1882.  This  elaborate  production  covered  the  en- 
tire field  of  tariff  revision.  To  the  report  was  also 
appended  a  bill,  which  embodied  the  views  of  the 
commission.  This  bill,  after  some  minor  modifica- 
tions. Congress  passed,  March  3,  1883.  This  tariff 
was  the  outgrowth  of  years  of  study  and  experi- 
ment ;  it  also  utilized  to  the  fullest  extent  the  in- 
formation received  at  that  time  from  the  two  sources 
mentioned  above,  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  tvages 
paid  abroad  and  in  the  United  States.  In  conse- 
quence, it  was  viore  perfect  than  any  of  its  prede- 
cessors in  its  adaptation  to  the  requirements  of  the 
numerous  industries  of  the  entire  Nation. 

The  Salient  Points  of  a  Tariff— It  is  expedi- 
ent to  put  on  record  a  concise  account  of  the  salient 
points  of  the  McKinle}'  Bill,  since  it  will  be  often  re- 
ferred to  as  of  financial  and  political  importance. 
The  tariff  of  1890  was  the  legitiuiate  outgrowth  of 
the  acquired  experience  of  nearly  thirty  j-ears  (1861- 
1890),  during  which  period,  by  means  of  judicious 
amendments  suggested  by  the  exigencies  of  the 
times,  the  original  measure  was  adjusted  again  and 
again  to  the  necessities  of  the  National  Treasury, 
and  likewise  so  as  to  encourage  the  industries  of 
the  people.  No  tariff,  taken  as  a  whole,  can  be  a6- 
aolulely  perfect  in  all  respects,  owing  to  the  changes 
that  are  continually  going  on  in  the  industrial  and 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1SS9,   TO  APRIL,  1S96.     353 

financial  world.  If  judged  by  the  good  effects 
which  it  produced  in  its  brief  existence,  the  tariff  of 
1890  was  the  most  judicious  and  symmetrical  of  any 
one  ever  passed  by  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  and  passed  by  Congress.  It  combined  the 
best  elements  of  that  of  1883,  and,  also,  appropriate 
measures  to  accomplish  what  ought  to  be  an  essen- 
tial object  in  every  tariff  of  the  United  States — that 
is,  to  secure  sufficient  revenue,  and  at  the  same  time 
encourage  our  comviercial,  agricultural,  and  mechan- 
ical iiidustries,  and  thereby  give  remunerative  employ- 
ment to  those  ivho  work  for  wages — about  three-fourths 
of  our  adult  population.  It  was  also  truly  national 
iu  its  provisions,  as  by  them  every  industry  in  every 
section  of  the  land  was  carefully  and  impartially 
encouraged. 

Schemes  to  Deceive.— This  bill  went  into  ef- 
fect October  6,  1890,  and  on  the  8th  of  the  follow- 
ing month  was  to  be  held  an  election  for  members 
of  the  Llld  Congress.  On  this  occasion  was  con- 
cocted and  utilized  by  certain  leaders  and  their 
allies  the  most  successful  and  unwarranted  scheme 
ever  known  iu  ordinary  business,  for  the  purpose  of 
deceiving  that  innocent  victim — the  American  public, 
especially  in  the  large  cities.  Importers,  and  cer- 
tain merchants  in  collusion  with  them,  at  once  in- 
structed their  salesmen  to  mark  up  the  prices  of 
their  merchandise,  and  to  give  as  a  reason  for  the 
enhanced  price  the  "high  rates  of  the  McKinley 
Bill."  Another  class  of  merchants,  we  are  happy  to 
mention,  did  not  enter  into  the  scheme.    This  mark- 


354  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

iiig-  u})  was  sometimes  tlone  even  in  respect  to  arti- 
cles that  ■were  on  the  free  list,  as  well  as  those  on 
whicli  the  tariff  had  not  been  changed  at  all,  for 
instance,  on  gloves — we  need  not  go  into  detail. 
There  was  not  an  imported  article  in  their  stores 
whicli  had  not  come  in  under  the  previous  tariff  of 
1883,  and  therefore  there  was  no  honorable  reason 
why  their  usual  prices  should  be  increased. 

In  accordance  with  the  programme,  these  leaders 
throughout  the  original  free-labor  States— it  was  not 
necessary  in  the  "  Solid  South  " — commenced  also  a 
series  of  gross  and  systematic  misrepresentations  of 
the  provisions  of  the  bill,  in  every  form  available  to 
excite  prejudice  against  it,  and  thereby  secure  votes 
for  Congressmen  who  were  Democratic,  or  virtually 
free  trade.  Owing  to  the  limited  time  since  its  en- 
actment, the  real  provisions  of  the  bill  could  not  be 
made  known  to  the  general  public.  These  tricky 
measures  continued  till  the  day  of  election,  and  as 
a  result  of  such  falsehoods,  scattered  far  and  near, 
the  Democracy  secured  an  unprecedented  majority 
in  the  House  of  Kepresentatives.  "When  the  elec- 
tion was  over,  the  high  prices  ere  long  resumed  their 
normal  condition.  Meanwhile  the  beneficial  char- 
acter of  the  tariff  of  1890  soon  began  to  manifest 
itself  in  the  impulse  that  it  gave  to  the  industries 
of  the  Nation,  and  to  business  in  general. 

Mineral  Resources. — We  have  room  for  only 
two  illustrations  on  this  subject,  the  one  showing 
the  stimulating  influence  of  the  tariff'  of  1890  upon 
one  phase  of  our  industries,  the  other  the  depressing 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1SS9,   TO   APRIL,  1896.     355 

effect  uj^ou  the  same  of  a  mere  tlireai  io  repeal  the 
former  measure,  aud  substitute  iustead  a  tariff,  so 
called,  "for  revenue  onl}'."  Tlie  facts  iu  both  in- 
stances are  unimpeachable,  and  of  necessity  im- 
partial in  their  presentation.  The  one  :  the  outi^ut 
in  the  year  1892  of  the  minerals  of  the  United 
States  was  valued  at  $G88,G16,954 — the  largest  ever 
known  ;  being  more  than  30A  million  dollars  greater 
than  that  of  1891.  The  output  of  the  same  miner- 
als in  the  year  1893  was  valued  at  $609,821,670, 
thus  showing  a  decline  of  value  in  one  year  of  {^78,- 
794,284  {Uineral  Resources  of  the  U.  S.  fur  the 
Calendar  Years  1892-93,  pp.  1,  12). 

The  other :  the  depressing  effect  upon  the  above 
phase  of  the  industries  of  the  American  people 
does  not  compare  in  its  pecuniary  magnitude  with 
the  losses  sustained  from  the  same  cause  in  the 
other  industries  of  the  land,  both  of  capital  aud 
what  would  have  been  the  earnings  of  the  work- 
IDeojjle  thus  thro\vu  out  of  employment.  Their 
sufferings  cannot  be  reckoned  in  dollar  and  cent 
values  ;  their  deposits  in  savings  banks  were  in 
time  used  up,  and  they  and  their  families  often  re- 
duced to  want  and  the  mortification  of  receiving 
charity.  And  for  what?  Why,  forsooth  !  to  put  in 
practice  the  theories  of  unpractical  men. 

Free  Sugar. — One  provision  of  the  tariff  of 
1890  was  of  great  importance  to  the  people  at  large 
— that  of  admitting  sugar  free  of  duty.  This  benefi- 
cient  measure  reached  every  household  iu  the  laud. 
The  revenue  derived  from  the  duty  previously  im- 


350  POLITICAL  i'Ain'i/^:s. 

pose  J  upon  suj^ar  aniouiiled  anuually  to  about 
$50,000,000.  This  duty  or  tax  the  consumers  paid, 
because  the  sugar  producer  fixed  his  own  price,  to 
uhich  was  added  the  duty.  The  American  people 
were  unable  to  raise  sufficient  sugar  to  supj^ly  their 
own  wants  ;  if  they  could  have  done  so,  they  could 
also  have  fixed  their  own  price  in  accordance  with 
the  cod  nf  production,  and  to  that  jDrice  the  foreign 
competitor  would  have  to  conform  when  entering 
the  American  market.  The  foreigner  could  not  in- 
crease that  price,  though  he  might  lower  it. 

In  connection  with  this  provision  of  the  bill  was 
that  of  giving  a  bounty  of  tioo  cents  a  pound  to  the 
producers  of  domestic  sugar,  in  lieu  of  the  protec- 
tion afforded  them  by  the  then  existing  duty  ujion 
the  foreign  article.  The  policy  of  paying  this 
bounty,  if  carried  out,  Avould  be  far-reaching  in  ben- 
eficial results.  It  is  very  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
in  time,  by  these  means,  we  would  learn  how  to 
supply  our  own  sugar  from  our  own  soil,  as  France 
and  Germany  have  done  w'ithin  recent  years.  We 
have  four  sources  of  supply,  while  the  latter  two 
countries  have  only  one — the  sugar-beet.  First  we 
have  the  sugar-cane,  which  flourishes  all  around  the 
region  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  This  is  a 
vast  territory  of  fertile  lands  waiting  to  be  brought 
more  extensively  under  cultivation  of  the  sugar-cane. 
The  second  source  is  the  sugar-beet,  Avhich  grows 
finely  on  the  Atlantic  slope  and  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississipi^i,  and  luxuriantly  in  California.  "  Recent 
experiments,   facts,    and  figures    demonstrate    the 


FROM  MARCH  4,  IS89,   TO  APRIL,  1896.    357 

peculiai'  advantages  of  the  so-called  arid  region 
[when  irrigated]  for  the  growth  aud  maturity  of 
a  beet  rich  in  saccharine  matter  "  ("  Beet  Culture  in 
Colorado  ").  The  third  source  is  the  sorghum,  which 
affords  a  fair  quantity  of  saccharine  mattei',  and  can 
be  successfully  cultivated  in  the  middle  portion  of 
the  Union.  To  these  may  be  added  the  sugar-maple. 
France  and  Germany  have  within  a  half  century 
been  so  cultivating  the  beet  and  extracting  its  sugar 
that  they  are  able  to  supply  their  own  wants  and 
even  have  a  surplus  to  export. 

Democratic  leaders  have  always  been  deficient  in 
comprehensive  views  that  pertain  to  the  promotion 
of  our  national  industries.  And  it  was  with  zest 
their  majority  in  the  Lower  House  in  the  first  Session 
of  the  Lllld  Congress  voted  to  repeal  the  law  giv- 
ing a  bounty  on  sugar  produced  from  our  own  soil. 
It  is  estimated  that  at  that  very  time  fifty  million 
dollars  were  invested  by  sugar-planters  in  the  enter- 
prise, and  in  which  were  employed  many  thousands 
of  workpeople  {see  pp.  161,  266,  267, /or  similar  in- 
stances of  votes  to  repeal). 

That  the  benefits  derived  from  this  free  sugar 
were  appreciated  by  the  wage-earners  and  the  great 
mass  of  the  American  people  is  proved  by  the  tre- 
mendous increase  of  its  importation  under  the  con- 
ditions of  Reciprocity.  The  well-to-do  and  the  rich 
never  stinted  themselves  in  the  use  of  this  essential 
article  of  food  when  it  came  in  under  the  tariff  of 
about  2 1  cents  a  pound,  but  those  of  limited 
means  did,  and  as  soon  as  it  came  in  free  of  duty 


358  POLITICAL   PAUTIKS. 

<lio  incroiisc  in  its  consuniptioii  bocamo  cnormoug 
(iV.  y.  Tribtnw,  August  24,  181)4,  p.  1,  0th  cohiniu). 
For  instance  :  the  quantity  of  sugar  imported  in 
1892,  according  to  the  report  of  the  custom-houses, 
if  entered  at  tlie  old  rate  of  duty,  would  have 
amounted  in  revenue  to  about  $75,000,000.  From 
this  sum  substract,  say,  $12,000,000  paid  in  boun- 
ties and  3'ou  have  $63,000,000  clear  gain  accruing 
to  the  people  themselves  as  individuals. 

But  here  come  those  eminent  and  self-proclaimed 
friends  of  "  the  poor  man,"  who  exclaim  that  the 
money  is  taken  from  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States.  The  answer  to  that  assertion  is,  that  the 
money  expended  in  these  bounties  is  paid  back  to 
the  Nation  many  times  over  in  consequence  of  the 
ti'eaties  of  reciprocity  with  several  nations,  by 
which  the  outlet  to  American  products  of  various 
kinds  was  greatly  enhanced  and  its  foreign  ti-ade 
increased.  Let  one  instance  of  many  that  could  be 
given  sufifice.  Previous  to  a  reciprocity  treaty  con- 
cluded with  Spain  the  duty  on  American  flour  in 
the  market  of  Cuba  w-as  $4.62  a  barrel ;  the  treaty 
reduced  it  to  90  cents  ;  in  consequence,  until  its  re- 
peal by  the  present  Democratic  administration,  the 
American  farmer  supplied  nearly  all  the  flour  used  in 
Cuba.  Altogether  the  increase  of  our  exports  to  that 
island  alone  was  i^eveidy  per  cent.  There  were  a  num- 
ber of  such  treaties  concluded  with  several  countries 
from  which  we  had  imported  their  products,  such 
as  rubber,  gutta-percha,  and  sugar,  free  of  duty,  but 
in  accordance  with  these  treaties  these  countries  re- 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1SS9,   TO  APRIL,  1S96.     359 

moved  or  grea,tly  reduced  their  tariff  on  American 
products  of  various  kinds,  such  as  provisions  and 
certain  manufactures.  These  reciprocity  treaties, 
about  twenty  in  number,  were  the  direct  outgrowth 
of  a  provision  of  the  McKinley  Bill. 

The  Prohibition.— The  McKinley  Bill— which 
no  other  had  ever  done — took  high  ground  against 
impure  literature.  It  forbid  the  importation  of  any 
obscene  book,  pamphlet,  picture,  or  any  article 
whatever  that  is  suggestive  of  an  immoral  action  or 
nature.  It  imposed  a  penalty  for  the  crime — "  All 
such  articles  shall  be  proceeded  against,  seized  and 
forfeited  by  due  course  of  law." 

A  Judicious  Enactment. — It  was  persistently 
charged  by  Democratic  leaders  and  Free-traders 
that  American  manufacturers  were  at  a  disadvan- 
tage when  they  exported  their  products  in  which 
material  that  had  paid  duty  had  been  used.  To  ob- 
viate that  difficulty  and  charge,  a  provision  was 
made  in  the  bill  for  refunding  ninety-nine  j)er  cent. 
of  the  duty  paid  on  a  foreign  material  wdiich  had 
been  used  in  the  manufacture  of  an  article,  when  the 
latter  was  put  upon  a  foreign  market. 

Shoddy. — In  order  to  prevent  adulteration  in 
the  manufacture  of  woollen  cloths,  the  tariff  of 
1890  imposed  a  duty  of  thirty  cents  per  pound  on 
nhoddy  or  woollen  waste — the  old  rate  was  ten — ■ 
which  could  be  used  for  adulteration  in  the  making 
of  such  cloths.  The  Wilson,  or  rather  Gorman, 
tariff  (1894)  reduced  this  duty  one-half  ;  that  is,  to 
fifteen  cents  per  pound.      What  was  the  patriotic 


3G0  POLITICAL   PAIiTIK>!. 

motive  for  this  change?  Was  it  to  iiuluce  the 
American  manufacturer,  under  the  specious  jilea  of 
cheapness,  to  adulterate  woollen  cloths  for  the  bene- 
fit of  wage-earners  or  those  of  limited  means  ? 

Industries  Transferred— Tin-plate. —  Under 
the  provisions  of  the  tariff  of  1890,  and  the  rea- 
sonable prospect  that  it  would  remain  in  force  for 
years,  a  number  of  foreigners  transferred  their  fac- 
tories to  the  United  States.  This  movement  gave 
additional  employment  to  great  numbers  of  Ameri- 
can work-people,  but  it  came  to  an  end  in  1893. 
For  similar  reasons  several  new  industries  were  in- 
troduced into  the  country  ;  among  these  was  that 
of  making  tin-plate.  According  to  the  official  re- 
port on  the  progress  of  this  new  industry,  on  June 
30,  1893,  there  were  in  the  Union  thirttj-Jive  mills 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  tin-plate,  and  which 
were  employing  several  thousand  workmen.  Yet  is 
it  to  be  credited  that  the  Democratic  majority  in 
the  House  of  Eepreseutatives  of  the  Llld  Congress 
passed,  about  that  very  time,  a  bill  to  repeal  the 
tariff  on  tin-plate,  and  thus  break  up  that  industry  ! 
{See  also  p.  266  for  a  similar  action.) 

According  to  The  Metal  Worker  there  were  (1895) 
in  operation  28  tin-plate  mills  that  rolled  their 
own  black  plates.  "  There  [were]  in  the  aggregate 
155  mills  completed  or  building,  of  which  110  were 
in  active  work.  These  mills  employ  some  15,000 
hands."  The  block-tin  used  in  this  manufacture 
comes  in  free  of  duty. 

Workingmen  Misled. — It  seems  almost  iucredi- 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1SS9,   TO  APRIL,  189G.     301 

ble  that  persisteut  misrepresentations  of  the  lead- 
ing provisions  of  the  bill,  and  the  slanderous  im- 
pugning the  motives  of  those  who  framed  it,  should 
have  misled  even  those  workmen  who  were  sjjecially 
benefited  by  it,  they  being  employed  in  factories 
on  articles  that  were  thus  protected  against  foreign 
competition.  For  example,  in  a  manufacturing 
town  in  Connecticut,  it  is  said,  about  800  workmen 
thus  employed  voted  for  the  Democracy  in  1892, 
and  when  expostulated  with,  and  warned  that  if  the 
latter  were  successful  their  wages  would  be  cut 
down  in  order  to  meet  the  competition  abroad, 
they  sneered  at  the  suggestion,  saying  "  they 
would  keep  up  their  wages  by  means  of  their  trade- 
unions,  and,  moreover,they  wished  a  change  anyway." 
They  did  not  then  take  into  consideration  the  pos- 
sibility of  shut-downs,  which  came,  when,  owing  to 
the  general  depression  of  business,  orders  fell  oft' 
entirely.  Meanwhile  the  Democratic  leaders  and 
their  free-trade  allies  were  promising  very  high 
prices  for  the  products  of  the  farmers,  and  very 
cheap  foreign  goods  for  those  who  worked  for 
wages.  The  votes  of  these  800  workmen  in  Novem- 
ber of  1894:  gave  clear  evidence  that  they  wished 
another  change. 

Appropriations.  —  The  List  Congress  was 
charged  by  the  leaders  of  the  Democracy  with  being 
extravagant  in  the  amounts  of  its  aj^propriations. 
The  Republicans  when  in  control  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  wherein  appropriations  legally  orig- 
inate, have  made  them  in  good  faith  and  never  for 


302  I'OLiTjcAL  r.nrrjEs. 

the  sake  of  political  cfl'ect,  hence  they  designate  the 
amounts  that^YCl•c  called  for  by  the  careful  estimates 
for  the  financial  year.  On  the  contrary,  when  the 
Democrats  were  in  control  of  the  Lower  House,  they 
have  uniformly  {sec,  pp.  282-284),  especially  if  a 
presidential  canvass  was  impending,  made  appropri- 
ations that  were  notoriously  inadequate  in  their 
amounts.  Then  they  go  to  the  country  on  this  fic- 
titious economy,  urging  the  unenlightened  rank  and 
file  to  witness  how  saving  they  have  been  of  the 
money  of  the  dear  people. 

The  List  Congress  was  thus  hampered,  as  it  had 
to  make  up  an  unusually  large  deficiency  left  over 
from  the  previous  one  (Democratic),  in  addition  to 
the  regular  aj^propriations.  From  the  surplus  in 
hand  it  took  sufficient  to  pay  honest  debts  which 
had  been  neglected  for  years.  It  thus  refunded  to 
the  loyal  States  $13,000,000,  that  being  the  amount 
of  a  direct  tax  paid  by  them  to  aid  the  Government 
during  the  war  to  save  the  Union.  It  also  paid  the 
"French  spoliation  claims,"  which  had  been  due  for 
a  number  of  years — $1,30-4,095.  The  Harrison  ad- 
ministration paid  off  $365,493,170  of  the  national 
debt,  and  thus  saved  to  the  people  an  annual  in- 
terest of  more  than  $11,000,000.  This  was  done  as 
a  matter  of  business,  as  it  was  found  cheaper  for  the 
Government  to  buy  certain  bonds  that  were  not  3'et 
due  and  pay  the  premium  on  them  than  to  let  them 
remain  unpaid  and  draw  interest. 

On  March  4,  1893,  there  was  sufficient  money  re- 
maining in  the  Treasury  to  meet  the  current  ex- 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1889,  TO  APRIL,  1896.     3G3 

pcnses  of  the  Government  for  a  length  of  time,  but 
the  threats  made  of  radically  changing  the  entire 
financial  system  of  the  country  "which  had  been  so 
successful  for  thirty  years,  caused  universal  distrust. 
This  feeling  so  depressed  every  form  of  industry 
and  general  business  that  in  consequence  the  ordi- 
nary revenues  fell  otf,  and  the  money  in  the  Treasury 
being  nearly  exhausted,  the  Government  was  com- 
pelled to  resort  to  loans  in  order  to  defray  its  cur- 
rent expenses — an  extraordinary  transition  from  an 
overflowing  Treasury  to  a  deficiency. 

Contrasts.— Under  the  tarift*  of  1890,  during 
the  last  two  years  of  Mr.  Harrison's  administration, 
"  all  our  industries  were  active,  exports  and  imports 
were  the  largest  ever  known,  .  .  .  prices  were 
good,  foreign  capital  was  coming  into  the  country 
by  hundi'eds  of  millions  every  year  " — not  borrowed, 
but  for  investment.  In  consequence  of  threats  to 
destroy  the  existing  financial  and  industrial  system 
of  the  nation,  and  finally  the  enactment  of  the  Wil- 
son-Gorman tariif,  every  mechanical  industry  in  the 
Union  was  depressed — wages  lowered  or  ceased  alto- 
gether, while  general  business  was  paralyzed — all 
this  within  two  years  succeeding  the  4th  of  March, 
1893.  Again,  "  during  Mr.  Harrison's  administra- 
tion our  total  foreign  trade  Avas  $1,258,657,086, 
more  than  during  Mr.  Cleveland's _/ir.s^  term  "  [Amer- 
ican Economist,  May  number,  1885,  p.  276).  lu 
both  Congresses  of  this  Jird  term  persistent  efforts 
■were  continually  made  to  change  the  then  existing 
tariff,  with  the  natural  result  of  disturbing  and  re- 


.'ili-i:  POLITIC  A  I.   r.lIiTJh'S. 

tardiug  the  progress  of  the  industrial  and  commer- 
cial interests  of  tlie  nation. 

The  exports  of  the  last  year  of  ]\Ir.  Harrison's  ad- 
ministration under  the  McKinley  Bill  were  $334,- 
323,641 ;  the  exports  of  the  year  1894,  under  the 
■\^'ilson-Gorman  Bill,  were  $19G,18G,0G5,  while  in  the 
latter  the  imports  ^Yere  enormous,  especially  of  tex- 
tile fabrics  of  every  class,  which  our  -work-iieople 
ought  to  and  could  make  themselves.  Mr.  Harri- 
son's administration  paid  $305,493,170  of  the  public 
debt.  On  the  contrary,  according  to  the  Govern- 
ment's own  showing,  Mv.  Cleveland's  has  thus  far 
paid  nothhi(j,  while  within  two  years  and  a  few 
months  the  national  debt  has  been  greatly  increased. 

Votes  for  Congressmen. — The  following  facts 
may  properly  attract  the  attention  of  the  American 
people.  The  number  of  constituents  that  each  Con- 
gressman represents  in  the  Lower  House  is  the 
same  throughout  the  Union.  The  present  number, 
being  based  upon  the  census  of  1890,  is  173,901. 
How,  then,  can  we  account  for  the  discrepancies  in 
the  average  number  of  the  votes  cast  for  each  Con- 
gressman in  the  different  sections  of  the  Union  ? 
Taking  as  a  basis  the  number  of  votes  polled  in  the 
presidential  election  in  1892,  we  find  the  average 
number  of  votes  for  each  Congressman  in  the  twenty- 
six  Northern  States  to  be  40,337  ;  in  the  four  bor- 
der ones,  32,713,  and  in  the  eleven  Confederate, 
19,543. 

Democratic  Principles. — Certain  leaders  are 
continually  eulogizing  what  they  term  "Democratic 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1SS9,    TO   APRIL,  ISOfJ.     3G5 

i:)rinciples."  The  question  is  suggested,  What  are 
they  ?  Within  the  last  thirty  years  or  more  these 
leaders  have  not  even  enunciated  a  comprehensive 
policy  or  principle  in  the  application  of  which  the 
American  people  have  been  or  could  be  benefited,  or 
with  which  they  were  satisfied.  While  these  leaders, 
as  Confederates  in  the  South  and  Copperheads  in  the 
North,  were  trying  to  break  up  the  Union,  the  Re- 
publicans and  loj/al  Democrats  were  battling  against 
them,  and  in  the  end  frustrated  their  plans.  Mean- 
while the  latter  were  originating  and  putting  in 
practice  principles  that  in  their  application  were  pro- 
moting the  welfare  of  the  people  at  large.  They  in- 
troduced honest  financial  measures  that  secured  the 
confidence  of  the  business  portion  of  the  community, 
meanwhile  cherishing  the  manufacturing  and  other 
industries  and  developing  the  natural  resources  of 
the  entire  land.  These  financial  measures,  based 
on  a  solid  foundation,  broad  and  deep,  enabled  the 
Government  to  meet  as  far  as  possible  the  expenses 
of  the  war  then  in  progress,  and  at  its  close  to  at 
once  commence  paying  ofL'  the  debt  thus  imposed. 
The  American  people  have  been  complimented 
justly  when  characterized  by  intelligent  European 
statesmen  as  a  debt-paying  nation. 

Ui^on  examination  these  Democratic  principles 
appear  to  be  mostly  of  the  dog-and-mauger  variety. 
For  illustration,  on  several  occasions,  when  having 
a  majority  in  the  Lower  House,  that  majority,  at  the 
dictation  of  the  leaders,  attempted  to  repeal  meas- 
ures which  have  proved  themselves  to  be  of  inesti- 


not')  roi.i  ri cm.  iw  ii ties. 

mablc  value  (o  tlic  \Yliole  coiuifry  (yce  pj).  2GG- 
269,  358).  Critics  slioulj  not,  however,  be  too 
severe,  for  what  can  these  leaders  do  ?  The 
naughty  lic'])ul)licans  for  about  thirty  years  have 
monopolized  all  the  principles  or  i^olicies — the 
financial,  the  industrial,  and  commercial — which  in 
their  application  have  brought  in  their  train  the 
blessings  of  prosperity.  In  consequence,  these  lead- 
ers, in  order  to  keep  their  organization  in  hand 
before  the  eyes  of  its  unodightened  members,  are 
compelled  to  play  the  role  of  ohstrucllonid^. 

Cost  of  Production ^ — Raw  Material.  —  The 
Democratic  majority  in  both  Houses  of  the  Lllld 
Congress  (March  4,  1803-1895)  manifested  extreme 
hostility  to  the  prominent  features  of  the  tariff  of 
1890,  and  which  it  finally  superseded  by  enacting 
what  is  known  as  the  Wilson  or  Gorman  Bill.  The 
contrasts  between  the  McKinle}'  Tariff  Bill  and  that 
of  the  Gorman-Wilson  are  well  worth  noticing.  The 
one  was  based  on  the  relative  cod  of  production, 
taking  as  a  criterion  the  amount  of  wages  paid 
abroad  as  compared  with  that  paid  in  the  United 
States  for  similar  work  ;  the  other  is  based  virtually 
on  the  cod  of  the  raw  material.  The  former,  in  order 
to  protect  our  work  people,  put  a  dut}'  correspond- 
ing to  the  wages  paid  to  employees  on  foreign  manu- 
factured articles  that  came  in  competition  with  our 
own.  The  framers  of  the  latter  intimated  they 
would  do  something  of  the  same  kind,  but  that  they 
failed  to  carry  out  such  intimation  is  clearly  proved 
by  the  universal  depression  of  our  manufacturing 


FROM  MARCH  4,  1SS9,   TO  APRIL,  1896.     367 

interests,  wliicli  began  as  soon  as  their  tariff  went 
into  eft'ect.  The  McKinley  Bill  imposed  a  cor- 
responding high  rate  of  duty  on  the  most  elab- 
orately textile  fabrics,  such  as  velvets,  woollen  cloths, 
laces,  and  such  like,  and  on  all  classes  of  luxuries  ; 
for  instance,  on  costly  wines,  etc. — that  is,  on  high- 
priced  articles  which  those  of  limited  means  never 
purchase.  It  also  admitted  free  of  duty  the  raw 
material  for  onr  factories  which  we  could  not  pro- 
duce ourselves  ;  among  which  were  unwrought  silk, 
rubber,  gutta-percha,  block-tin,  and  other  articles ; 
but  upon  the  raw  materials  that  we  could  produce 
ourselves,  for  obvious  reasons,  a  duty  was  imposed, 
as  on  iron-ore,  coal,  and  wool.  Then  again,  it 
looked  after  the  comforts  derived  from  the  poor 
man's  table  by  bringing  in  free  of  duty  tea,  coffee, 
chocolate,  sugar,  and  the  spices  of  the  tropics.  (For 
sugar  see  p.  355.) 

On  the  contrary,  the  Gorman- Wilson  Bill  appears 
to  have  been  based  more  on  the  cheapness  of  the 
raw  material  than  on  the  cost  of  production.  The 
labor,  according  to  statistics,  put  upon  the  manu- 
factured articles  costs  from  85  to  90  per  cent,  of  the 
entire  expense,  while  the  raw  material — from  an 
iron  ship  to  a  sewing-machine — in  value  is  not 
more  than  two  or  three  per  cent,  of  the  entire  cost. 
For  illustration,  what  is  the  value  in  the  vein  of  the 
iron-ore  from  which  the  iron  ship  is  made  ?  or  what 
the  value  in  the  mine  of  the  coal  which  smelts 
that  iron-ore  ?  or  of  the  trees  as  they  stand  in  the 
forest  from  which  the  wood-work  is  made  ?    The 


3G8  I'DUTICAL   1' ARTIES. 

value  of  all  these  is  enhanced  alone  by  the  labor 
of  pi'eparing  them  for  practical  use.  The  basic 
•value  of  any  raw  material  should,  therefore,  be 
reckoned  its  worth  uhen  in  a  primitive  state,  while 
its  subsequent  value  is  the  outcome  of  the  labor 
put  upon  it. 

It  is  evident  that  the  McKinley  tarifif,  based  on 
the  comparative  cost  of  production,  is  more  espe- 
cially in  the  interest  of  the  greater  number — our 
wage  -  earners,  three-fourths  of  om*  adult  popula- 
tion— while  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  Gorman- 
Wilson  Bill,  being  based  on  the  cheapness  of  the 
raw  material,  is  more  especially  in  the  interest  of 
the  manufacturer.  That  the  main  basis  upon  which 
the  latter  bill  was  designed  to  be  placed — namely, 
the  cheapness  of  the  raw  material — we  are  com- 
pelled to  infer,  because  of  the  strenuous  efforts  that 
were  made,  pre-eminently  by  Mr.  Cleveland,  to  have 
iron-ore,  coal,  and  wool  come  in  free  of  duty.  The 
three  articles  of  raw  material  thus  mentioned  we 
can  produce,  but  they  are  very  liable  to  be  injured 
in  their  value  and  prodiiction  by  foreign  competi- 
tion. 

In  respect  to  wool,  it  was  made  free  of  duty  by 
the  Gorman-Wilson  Bill.  What  has  been  the  ef- 
fect ?  Only  that  the  wool  industry  of  the  United 
States,  estimated  in  value  at  about  $100,000,000,  has 
been  depreciated  at  least  one-half.  Again,  what 
Las  been  gained  by  that  measure  ?  The  answer  is, 
tliat  a  gentleman's  suit  of  the  finest  quality,  if  its 
cloth  were   of  American   manufacture,    and   made 


FROM  MARCH  4,  18S9,   TO  APRIL,  1896.     369 

from  foreign  merino  wool  of  the  highest  grade  and 
free  of  duty,  the  suit  would  be  one  dollar  and  ten 
cents  cheaper  than  if  the  duty  imposed  by  the  Mc- 
Kiuley  Bill  had  been  paid  on  the  raw  wool. 

Where  is  the  line  to  be  drawn,  by  those  who  pro- 
claim that  protection  is  unconstitutional,  between  a 
duty  that  is  "  protective  "  and  one  that  is  "  for  reve- 
nue only  ?  "  Every  duty,  however  small  on  a  com^Det- 
ing  manufactured  article,  in  the  nature  of  the  case 
must  be  to  that  extent  protective.  It  follows  from 
this  that  a  duty  "for  revenue  only  "  can  be  imposed 
upon  those  foreign-made  articles  alone  which  we  can- 
not produce,  and  therefore  such  cannot  come  in 
competition  with  ours.  According  to  this  view  of 
the  subject,  to  be  consistent,  we  must  admit  free  of 
duty  every  foreign  manufactured  article  that  com- 
petes with  our  own. 

The  Surplus— The  Deficiency.— From  1866 
onward  to  the  second  administration  of  Mr.  Cleve- 
land the  National  Government  had  always  a  sur- 
plus year  by  year  after  paying  its  current  expenses. 
Such  was  the  case  for  twenty-eight  years  till  1894. 
During  this  period  the  yearly  average  surplus  was 
$08,429,828,  including  the  four  years  of  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's first  term.  That  term  was  an  earnest  of  his 
second,  inasmuch  as  at  its  beginning  great  anxiety 
pervaded  business  circles,  lest  the  policy  of  the 
Democratic  party  would  injure  all  the  industries  of 
the  land.  In  consequence  of  this  ominous  uncer- 
tainty, in  the  first  financial  year  of  his  administra- 
tion the  surplus  fell  off  $40,929,854.     The  people 


370  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

became  assured,  however,  that  the  Senate  would 
stand  firm  in  resisting  the  changes  jiroposcd  in  the 
Morrison  tarifl',  as  well  as  any  future  measure  that 
might  have  a  similar  effect  upon  their  industries. 
As  soon  as  this  position  of  that  body  became  known, 
an  impulse  was  given  to  business,  and  as  an  evi- 
dence of  that  fact  the  surplus  of  the  second  financial 
year  (188G)  of  his  administration  was  $30,492,817 
more  than  that  of  the  previous  one.  This  surplus 
increased  each  year  to  the  end  of  Mr.  Cleveland's 
term,  in  consequence  of  the  indications  being  so 
promising  that  the  people  would  restore  the  Repub- 
licans to  power,  and  thus  thelatter's  financial  policy, 
■which  since  18G2  had  so  grandly  promoted  the  in- 
terests of  the  nation,  would  be  continued. 

During  Mr.  Cleveland's  second  (1893-1897)  term, 
thus  far,  as  Democratic  financial  theories  have  had 
full  sway,  instead  of  a  surplus  there  has  been  a  con- 
tinuous deficiency,  amounting  in  all  at  this  date 
(April  1,  189G)  to  $117,883,782.  Thus  our  proud 
and  recognized  distinction  of  being  a  debt-paymg 
nation  has  degenerated  into  one  running  into  debt 
year  by  year. 


LL 

IMPEDIMENTS  REMOVED. 

The  Outlook.— We  entered  upon  the  second 
century  of  our  national  existence  on  March  4,  1889. 
Let  us  briefly  notice  the  influences  that  will  promote 
our  material  interests,  and  also  those  that  will  aid  in 
elevating  the  American  people  to  a  still  higher  plane 
of  intelligence  and  good  morals,  thus  making  more 
perfect  their  present  Christianized  civiHzatiou. 
What  a  number  of  impediments  have  been  swept 
away,  that  during  its  first  century  hindered  the 
Nation's  progress  in  its  widest  and  best  sense ! 
In  consequence,  the  American  people  will  hence- 
forth be  comparatively  free  and  untrammeled  in 
their  onward  progress,  and  meanwhile,  by  utilizing 
the  noble  institutions  bequeathed  them  by  the  fii'st 
century,  will  attain  still  grander  results  in  the 
second.  These  results  will  include  a  continual  ad- 
vancement in  the  material  things  that  pertain  to  the 
physical  comfort  of  the  people  at  large,  and  in  a  still 
more  important  sense  elevating  them  to  higher  planes 
of  intelligence  and  morals. 

A  unique  and  strenuous  opponent  to  the  genuine 
progress  of  the  Nation  in  its  first  century,  and  which 
will  be  unknown  in  the  second,  was  slavery.     This 


372  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

system  had  :i  retanling  iuflucnce  in  more  senses 
than  one  ;  it  was  financially  wasteful,  the  parent  of 
untold  wrongs,  as  manifested  in  its  domestic  evils, 
Avhich  penetrated  the  inner  circle  of  the  household. 
It  was  the  enemy  of  universal  education  wherever  it 
held  sway.  The  slaveholders,  the  governing  class  in 
that  section  of  the  country,  never  established  public 
schools,  while  in  the  free-labor  States  they  were  in 
existence  more  than  two  hundred  years  before  the 
civil  war.  The  ruling  class  designed  as  far  as  pos- 
sible to  keep  the  "poor  white  trash,"  as  they  con- 
temptuously characterized  the  non-slaveholders,  in 
ignorance.  This  was  done  on  the  assumption  that 
their  knowledge  could  be  communicated  to  the 
slaves,  who  in  consequence  might  become  dissatisfied 
Avith  their  condition  and  foment  insurrections,  from 
which  were  proj^hesied  massacres  with  all  their  at- 
tendant horrors. 

The  second  century,  in  marked  contrast,  starts 
with  jii^ihlic  schools  established  throughout  the 
entire  Union,  while  the  system  is  growing  more  and 
more  in  favor  with  the  good,  the  intelligent,  and  pro- 
gressive citizens.  The  public  school  is  a  promoter 
of  material  progress  among  all  classes  in  the  com- 
munity ;  and  it  extends  still  further  in  its  influence 
in  uniting  in  sympathy  the  different  sections  of  the 
land  by  teaching  all  the  youth  the  English  language. 
Undef  such  conditions  the  unfortunate  illiterates 
will  in  due  time  disappear,  and  the  American  people, 
in  theory  at  least,  will  become  a  nation  of  intelligent 
■voters. 


IMPEDIMENTS  REMOVED.  373 

The  Spoils  System  — Civil  Service.  — That 
most  pernicious  policy  known  as  the  spoils  system, 
introduced  by  Andrew  Jackson  (1829)  near  the 
middle  of  the  Nation's  first  century  (see  pp.  75-77), 
will,  it  is  hoped,  disappear  in  the  early  portion  of 
its  second.  IMeasures  have  been  taken  to  banish  it 
forever  from  the  politics  of  the  Nation  {Four  Hun- 
dred Years  of  American  Hidory,  pp.  1068,  1072)  (see 
pp.  310-313),  and  whenever  the  reform  contemplated 
in  the  Civil  Service  secures  a  complete  triumph,  na- 
tional policies  will  thereafter  be  discussed  on  their 
merits  alone.  Writers  and  speakers  on  national 
topics  will  then  be  influenced  by  patriotic  motives, 
and  will  not  expect  nor  ask  political  preferment 
for  doing  their  duty,  except  in  an  honorable  and 
straightforward  way,  as  when  the  offices  in  the  gift 
of  the  people  are  conferred  upon  those  alone  whose 
fitness  for  the  position  they  recognize. 

The  evil  of  the  spoils  system  has  had  a  degrading 
influence,  especially  ujDon  tlie  less  intelligent,  in  giv- 
ing them  false  views,  as  when  they  unconsciously 
deem  patriotism  and  partisanship  as  of  equal  impor- 
tance. This  deceptive  notion  has  hitherto  prevailed 
to  an  extent  among  the  followers  of  local  leaders, 
who  have  dishonestly  oftentimes  promised,  directly 
or  indirectly,  the  same  office  to  different  persons  in 
order  to  secure  the  latter's  political  favor.  This  de- 
moralizing influence  will  receive  its  death  blow 
when,  on  a  basis  of  merit  alone,  appointments  will  bo 
made  to  subordinate  offices,  such  as  clerkships,  etc. 
The  qualifications  demanded  as  to  knowledge  will  be 


374  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

tbut  obtainable  in  the  common  schools  or  academies, 
but  Avliicb  education  must  be  supplemented  by  prac- 
tice, energ}',  and  honesty.  How  much  more  dig- 
nified and  self-respecting  to  hold  such  an  ap- 
pointment as  the  result  of  an  examination  than  to 
secure  it  through  the  influence  of  a  local  political 
leader ! 

The  Hopeful  Prospect.— The  system  of  Civil 
Service  will  become  more  perfect  in  its  administra- 
tion when  the  classes  of  public  employees,  that  are 
now  subjected  to  preliminary  examinations  and  a 
hmited  probation  before  entering  fully  npon  their 
duties,  are  appointed  for  a  number  of  odd  years, 
for  instance,  seven,  nine,  eleven,  etc.,  as  may  be 
deemed  best,  the  object  being  to  overlap  Pres- 
idential terms,  and  thus  avoid  the  unseemly  tur- 
moil of  oflSce-seekers  and  their  friends,  so  often 
seen  immediately  after  the  inauguration  of  a  Presi- 
dent. 

The  American  people  have  an  interest  in  their 
national  affairs  as  conducted  at  Washington,  and  for 
that  reason,  why  should  not  the  classes  of  officials 
mentioned  above  be  drawn  from  the  several  States 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  their  resi^ective 
populations  as  ascertained  by  each  census  ?  Such 
an  arrangement  would  enhance  the  existing  good- 
will of  the  people  of  every  section  of  the  Union. 

Let  these  clerical  or  subordinate  appointments  be 
made  or  recommended  by  a  commission  instituted 
tor  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  qualifications  of 
cne  applicants.     This  policy  would  in  time  banish 


IMPEDIMENTS  REMOVED.  375 

the  absurd  notion  that  the  general  government  is 
somehow  under  obUgation  to  appoint  certain  per- 
sons or  their  friends  to  these  minor  offices.  If  such 
appointees  are  efficient,  why  should  not  their  tenures 
of  office  be  judiciously  extended,  and  thus  the  entire 
service  be  conducted  on  the  business  principles  that 
prevail  in  the  management  of  the  great  corporations 
of  the  country  ? 

National  Banks,— A  prominent  hinderance  to 
the  material  progress  of  the  Nation,  during  nearly 
three-fourths  of  its  first  century,  was  the  frequent 
changes  in  the  management  of  the  financial  measures 
of  the  National  government,  as  well  as  in  those  of 
the  respective  States  (see  pp.  26-28,  80,  81,  199). 
This  unsettled  condition  continued  till  the  adoption 
of  the  present  national  banking  system  on  January 
1,  18G3.  Since  then  we  have  had  no  bad  money. 
This  system  of  banking,  so  comprehensive  and 
national  in  its  character,  has  passed  over  into  the 
current  century.  In  pi'ocess  of  time  no  doubt  there 
will  be  modifications  which  will  adapt  the  system  to 
contingencies  that  may  hereafter  arise,  yet  the  grand 
and  valuable  feature,  of  being  national  in  its  practi- 
cal utility,  will  be  continued.  As  it  is  now,  the  notes 
of  these  banks  are  current  throughout  the  Union 
and  are  redeemable  at  the  United  States  Treasury. 
The  immense  advantages  derived  from  these  banks 
have  been  so  great  that  in  the  future  no  other  than 
a  banking  system  adapted  to  the  whole  Union  will 
be  tolerated  by  intelligent  people.  The  contrast 
between  the  two  centuries,  in  respect  to  the  benefits 


376  POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

derived  from  their  resi^ectivc  financial  measures,  is 
very  remarkable. 

Our  Territory  Ample.— Tlie  territory  in  the 
possession  of  the  American  people  of  the  second  cen- 
tury will  be  sufficient  for  their  occupation  and 
abundant,  under  the  forms  of  agriculture  that  will 
prevail,  to  supply  all  their  demands,  since  improve- 
ments in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  will  go  forward 
and  never  retrogade.  The  moral  tone  and  justice 
of  the  people  will  forbid  unlawful  elitbrts  to  acquire 
additional  territory.  In  the  days  of  the  first  cen- 
tury, in  the  interest  of  slavery,  criminal  filibustering 
expeditious  against  our  weak  neighbors  on  the 
south  were  carried  on  with  the  connivance  and  en- 
couragement of  the  leading  political  party  for  nearly 
one-quarter  of  the  first  century.  If  territory  is 
hereafter  added  to  our  domain  it  will  be  acquired 
honorably,  and  in  accordance  with  the  desire  of  the 
inhabitants  themselves  of  such  territory.  The  annex- 
ation will  be  made  in  good  faith  and  for  the  mutual 
benefit  of  both  the  parties. 

The  Proteg§.— Slavery,  as  long  as  it  lasted,  was 
apologized  for,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  catered  to  by 
the  Democratic  party  on  every  occasion  of  a  national 
election.  After  it  was  blotted  out  the  leaders  looked 
round  for  a  substitute,  one  that  had  within  it  ele- 
ments to  attract  the  same  or  similar  classes  which 
held  sway  in  the  Jacobin  clubs  in  1796  (pp.  11,  12), 
and  whose  votes  the  then  leaders  had  learned  to  util- 
ize. They  chose  the  liquor  interest  (pp.  205,  314- 
318),  whose  adherents  had  uniformly  voted  to  sustain 


IMPEDIMENTS  REMOVED.  377 

the  Democracy,  and  in  return  their  business  was  con- 
nived at  or  protected  by  legal  enactments.  In  the 
cities,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  the  rum-sellers  and 
their  customers,  and  the  keepers  of  gambling  saloons 
and  their  frequenters,  together  with  those  who  kept 
various  disorderly  establishments,  all  voted  the 
same  ticket. 

Up  to  1884  this  protege  of  the  Democracy  had 
been  only  local  in  its  influence,  but  now  the  sagacious 
and  prominent  leaders  of  the  party,  seeing  its  power, 
determined  to  utilize  it  as  an  ally  in  national  elec- 
tions. They  recognized  that  by  catering  to  its  de- 
mands it  could  be  made  to  hold  the  balance  of 
power  between  the  two  prominent  political  parties. 
With  this  design  the  National  Convention  of  the 
party,  held  in  Chicago,  July  10,  1884,  endeavored  to 
dignify  the  liquor  interest  as  a  national  question  by 
indorsing  it  in  these  words :  "  We  oj)pose  sumptuary 
laios  which  vex  the  citizen  and  interfere  with  indi- 
vidual liberty."  This  entire  j^latform  was  afterward 
reafiirmed  by  their  National  Convention  held  in  St. 
Louis,  June  7,  1888,  and  then  again  by  their  conven- 
tion held  in  Chicago,  June  21, 1892.  The  Republican 
National  Convention  held  in  Chicago,  June  21,  1888, 
adopted  the  following :  "  The  first  concern  of  all 
good  government  is  the  virtue  and  sobriety  of  the 
people.  The  Republican  party  cordially  sympathizes 
with  all  wise  and  well-directed  efforts  for  the  promo- 
tion of  temperance  and  morality."  Their  National 
Convention  held  in  Minneapolis,  June  7,  1892, 
adopted  the  same  sentiment  in  similar  language. 


378  POLITICAL  PAIiTIES. 

The  reader  will  notice  the  consummate  skill  used 
iu  the  wording  of  these  indorsements  of  the  liquor 
interest.  The  convention  did  not  dare  enunciate  its 
true  meaning  in  plain  unequivocal  tei'ms,  but 
shrewdly  used  the  expression  "  sumptuary  laws,"  as 
though  that  phrase  would  add  dignity  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  rum-seller  when  thus  introduced  as  a 
factor  in  our  national  politics.  In  consequence  of 
these  indorsements  of  a  great  national  party,  the 
special  adherents  of  this  direful  business  are  more 
aggressive,  and  their  demands  more  exacting,  to-day, 
in  the  third  ijear  of  the  Nation's  second  century 
than  ever  before.  Every  good  and  patriotic  citizen 
cherishes  the  hope  that,  in  the  rapid  progress  of 
general  intelligence  and  pure  morality  among  the 
American  people,  this  national  curse  will,  early  in 
our  second  century,  be  so  restrained  as  to  be 
stripped  of  its  pernicious  influence  and  perhaj)s 
virtually  banished  from  the  land. 

Danger  to  the  Public  Schools. — There  ap- 
pears at  present  only  one  source  of  anxiety  to 
thoughtful  minds  who  attempt  to  interpret  the  signs 
of  the  times :  that  is,  the  danger  which  threatens  our 
grand  national  system  of  public  schools.  The  latter 
can  be  virtually  destroyed  by  perverting  the  funds 
raised  by  taxation  for  their  support  to  aid  sectarian 
schools.  If  one  sect  obtains  such  aid,  why  may 
not  another,  and  thus  the  whole  system,  now  so 
universal  and  perfect,  be  broken  up  piecemeal? 
Certain  ecclesiastics  are  credited  with  devising  the 
scheme,  and  the  probability  is  that  a  party  which, 


IMPEDIMENTS  REMOVED.  379 

for  the  sake  of  votes,  catered  to  slavery,  and  does 
now  to  the  liquor  interest,  would  not  hesitate,  for 
the  same  reason,  to  break  up  the  public-school  sys- 
tem, since  it  is  continually  found  fault  with  by  these 
ecclesiastics,  and  in  such  manner  as  to  prejudice  or 
mislead  the  unintelligent. 

The  Lien. — The  liquor  interest  has  a  political 
lien  on  the  Democratic  party.  Note  an  instance 
wherein  its  power  was  recognized  and  duly  honored. 
In  the  presidential  canvass  of  1884,  Mr.  Cleveland's 
self-respect  forbid  his  specially  endorsing,  in  his  let- 
ter of  acceptance,  the  liquor  plank  in  the  party's 
platform  of  that  year,  and,  also,  the  same  influence 
induced  him  when  again  a  candidate  in  1888  to  ig- 
nore the  same.  In  the  latter  year,  however,  David 
B.  Hill  ran  for  the  governorship  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  because  of  his  notoriously  avowed  princi- 
ples in  favor  of  the  liquor  traffic,  he  was  ardently 
supported  by  the  saloons  and  their  sympathizers. 
Hill  carried  the  State  by  about  15,000  plurality, 
while  Mr.  Cleveland  lost  it  by  about  the  same  num- 
ber. Then,  in  1892,  came  the  third  candidacy  of  the 
latter.  In  his  letter  of  acceptance  in  that  year  Mr. 
Cleveland  laid  aside  his  self-respect  and  most  cor- 
dially endorsed  the  liquor  plank  of  the  Chicago  plat- 
form. By  thus  sacrificing  his  better  principles,  he 
obtained  the  full  vote  of  the  saloon  interest,  which 
gave  him  the  State  of  New  York  and  secured  his 
election. 


Ln. 

DEMOCRATIC  THEORIES  REJECTED. 

How  often  we  see  men  engaged  in  the  business  of 
life,  who  are  uniformly  unsuccessful,  and  notwith- 
standiiiii:  their  incessant  labor  there  seems  to  hang 
over  them  a  pall  of  misfortune.  Though  many  may 
say  in  respect  to  individuals.  They  have  been  unfor- 
tunate because  they  lacked  judgment  or  business 
capacity, — yet  if  they  have  been  pure  and  honest  in 
their  endeavors  to  succeed,  they  deserve  sympathy 
rather  than  carp'^ig  criticism.  Do  we  hold  a  senti- 
ment as  charitable  toward  a  combination  of  individ- 
uals— a  railroad  company  or  a  political  organiza- 
tion ?  We  assume  the  latter  to  be  patriotic  in  its 
motives,  though  it  may  be  misguided,  and  charity 
falls  back  upon  the  presumption  that  it  did  the  best 
it  could,  but  unfortunately  knew  no  better.  This  is 
strikingly  exemplified  in  the  present  instance,  since 
with  only  tioo  exceptions  the  American  people  in  the 
end  have  rejected  the  aj)plication  of  every  theory 
of  Democratic  Statesmen  in  respect  to  the  practical 
workings  of  the  measures  which  they  advocated,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  adopted  the  measures  which  they 
opposed,  especially  those  that  had  a  favorable  influ- 
ence upon  the  industries  of  the  land,  and  also  those 
that  from  their  nature  and  purjDOse,  were  adapted 


DEMOCEACY  ItEJECTED.  381 

and  designed  to  confer  success,  happiness  and  com- 
fort upon  the  people  at  large. 

In  order  to  substantiate  this  statement,  we  jiur- 
pose  in  closing  this  brief  history  to  give  a  summary — 
from  the  first  to  the  last — of  the  measures  whose  pas- 
saoe  throuajh  Compress  the  leadinar  men  of  the  De- 
mocracy  strenuously  opposed,  but  which  have  since, 
because  of  their  intrinsic  merits,  become  popular 
among  the  intelligent  portion  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, and  are  now  the  fixed  policy  of  the  Nation. 
We  shall  not  omit  to  notice  the  two  measures  that 
were  introduced  by  Democratic  statesmen  into  Con- 
gress, and  by  means  of  their  votes  carried  through, 
which  are  now  also  the  law  of  the  land. 


SIBIMARY. 

1.  One  of  the  most  important  measures  of  George 
Washington's  administration,  was  that  of  the 
United  States  government's  assuming  and  main- 
taining Neutrality  in  respect  to  wars  between 
other  nations ;  this  measure,  though  bitterly  op- 
posed by  the  Democracy  of  that  day,  has  since 
become  the  fixed  policy  of  the  Nation,  [p.  9, 14.  of 
this  monograph.] 

2.  Tlie  encouragement  given  by  the  first  two  Presi- 
dents to  our  foreign  Commerce  and  its  protection 
by  a  Navy,  and  afterward  the  policy  of  Inter- 
nal Improvements  by  the  National  govern- 
ment, were  opposed  in  theory  by  Jefferson,  Mon- 
roe, and  other  leaders  of  the  same  school  of  States- 
men,   [p.  29,39,46,51.] 

3.  Democratic  Statesmen — North  and  South — uni- 
formly promoted  Slavery  till  the  people  blotted 
it  out.  [pp.  122-124 ;  162-1G5.] 

4.  In  only  two  instances— from  1801  to  1861 — did 
Democratic  Statesmen  enact  measures  that  have  be- 
come the  policy  of  the  Nation.  The  one  when  they 
reduced  from  fourteen  years  to  foe  the  time  of  resi- 
dence required  of  an  alien  in  order  to  become  a  cit- 


SUMMARY.  383 

izen.  [p.  3G.]  The  other  when  they  instituted  the 
Sub-Treasury  for  keeping  the  money  of  the 
United  States,   [p.  98.] 

5.  Cheap  Postage,  that  boon  to  the  people,  was 
o})posed  more  or  less  for  years  and  years  by  the 
leaders  of  the  Democracy  in  Congress  [pp.  113 — 
116.]  but  was  gradually  effected  by  their  political 
opponents. 

6.  The  Homestead  Law — in  the  application  of 
which  nearly  8,000,000  of  Americans,  in  families 
of  old  and  young,  are  to-day  enjoying  happy 
homes  would  have  no  existence  if  Democratic 
Statesmen  had  had  their  way.  [pp.  182,  188,  189  ] 

7.  A  little  in  advance  of  the  progressive  move- 
ments of  these  Free  Homestead  settlements,  was 
the  threading  of  the  unoccupied  territories  by 
Railways,  in  order  to  bring  the  settlers  of  the 
fertile  regions  into  communication  with  the  older 
portions  of  the  country.  And  the  routes  were 
made  Transcontinental  to  transport  the  vast 
commerce  of  the  Pacific  Coast  and  of  Asia 
beyond.  Democratic  Statesmen  from  first  to 
last  bitterly  opposed  the  land  grants  by  which 
these  railroads  were  built.  [  pp.  191,196.] 

8.  From  the  first.  Democratic  Statesmen  for  the 
most  part  opposed  any  system  of  Banking  that 
could  facilitate  mercantile  exchanges  between  the 
States — such  as  the  last  two  United  States 
Banks,  and  the  present  National  Banking 
System,  [p.  80,  84,  199.] 

9.  The  Democratic  members  of  Congress  from  1875 


3S4  POLITICAL  PAliriES. 

to  1879  opposi'd  in  i-vory  available  mode  ibe 
Resumption  of  Specie  Payments — the  solid 
basis  of  our  i>rc'seiit  busiiu'ss  jji-osperity.  [  )».  204, 
266—209.] 

10.  The  same  class  of  Statesmen  in  Congress  op- 
posed at  every  step  the  present  La^w  to  Prevent 
Fraudulent  Voting  when  members  of  Con- 
gi'ess  or  Presidential  Electors  are  to  be  chosen. 
[  p.  292—295.] 

11.  More  prominently  from  1846  to  1861  the  leaders 
of  the  Democracy  discriminated  in  their  Tariff 
Measures  against  rather  than  in  favor  of  the 
mechanical  industries  of  the  land.  Since  then 
the  Xation  has  rejected  that  policy,    [pp.  53,  55, 

93,  118,  146,  147.] 

12.  The  position  of  the  Democracy  on  the  Liquor 
Question  is  so  well  defined  that  it  need  not  be 
further  specified  [p.  314],  except  to  quote  from 
the  platform  of  its  National  Convention  held  in 
Chicago,  July  8,  1884,  the  following:  "  We  op- 
pose sumptuary  laws  which  vex  the  crtizen  and 
interfere  with  individual  liberty"  [})p.  212, 
316,  321,  323], 

13.  The  Democratic  National  Convention  lield  in 
1888  in  St.  Louis,  reaffirmed  this  plank,  tlius 
continuing  the  liquor  question  in  National 
politics.  The  Couveutiou  held  in  Chicago,  in 
1892,  did  the  same. 


INDEX. 


Adams,  John,  V.  P.,  10;  Presi- 
dent, 31;  Success  35. 

Adams,  John  Quiiicy,  69;  chosen 
President  70  ;  Slanders  on  his 
Administration,  87. 

Alaska,  cost  of,  129. 

Aliens,  plots  of,  32  ;  act  33,  36. 

Apologies,  none  to  make,  338, 
339. 

Aristocracy,  the  true,  248. 

Aristocrats,  21  ;  246. 

Aslimun,  Geo. : — Bill  for  Cheap 
Postage,  115. 

Bank  U.  S.,  27  ;  banking,  80; 
opposition  to,  absurd,  81  ;  de- 
posits, 97. 

Banks  National,  199  ;  no  mono- 
poly, 200  ;  perfect  safety  of, 
210',  375. 

Benton,  Thomas,  34,  86  ;  on  the 
Annexation  of  Texas,  123. 

Blaine,  Jas.  G. ,  quoted,  126. 

Blunders,  101,  232,  334. 

Border  Rutfians,  IM. 

Boss  system  repudiated,  217. 

Brougham's,  Henry,  Lord,  ad- 
vice, 53. 

Buchanan,  James,  vetoes  Home- 
stead Bill,  189. 

Calhoun,  John  C,  61  ;  dream 
of,  1()4  ;  irreverence  of,  206. 

California,  cost'of,  129,  145. 

Capital  two  kinds,  156. 

Caucus  rule,  102. 

Centralization,  299. 

Civil  Service,  171  ;  Reform,  310. 

Comin-omise,  Missouri,  63;  re- 
pealed, 133;  Tariff,  93. 


Constructionists,  Strict,  37 ;  in- 
consistent, 39. 

Cooper,  Peter,  281. 

Credit,  American,  99. 

Curtiss,  Judge,  quoted  on  An- 
drew Jackson,  83. 

Dallas,  G.  M.,  118 ;  casting 
vote,  119. 

Decision,  Dred  Scott,  173. 

Democratic  Party  origin,  11,  12  ; 
poor  man's  friend,  22;  on 
Kansas,  135;  Connive  at 
Filibustering,  137,  140 ;  dis- 
criminates agaiu.stthe  indus- 
tries of  the  land  when  oppor- 
tunity serves,  favors  tl-a 
liquor  interest,  205 ;  founj 
wanting,  341 ;  distrust,  332  -. 
donations  to  the  South,  221, 
222 

Eaton,  Dorman  B. ,  310. 

Eaton,  Senator,  335. 

Ellis  Judge,  on  assumed  boun- 
dary, 125, 

Energy  displayed,  238. 

Englanil's  policy  in  relation  to 
niacliiiicry,  .54. 

EverettjEdward,  on  Cheap  Post- 
age, 115. 

Faults,  summary  of,  176. 
Federalists,  178  ;  245. 
Figure  Heads,  210,  215. 
Filibustering,  137,  140. 
Financiering,  fancy,  305 ;   sue-. 

cessful,  307. 
Free  Trade,  27,  277,  365. 
Fremont,  J.  C,  108. 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  133. 


r.;in:,x. 


Ckjjkt,  "  CiTizKN,"  14;  'M. 
Clatlsloiio,  \V.  E. ,  views  of  the 

U.  S.  Cimslitiitiou.  ;«. 
Cmnt,  Cioii.,  riesiik'nt, '27'J. 
IJreelov,  lloiace,  Ciuulidiite,  271. 
Greenbackers,  21K). 

Hamilton,  Alkxanokk,  Sec. 
Trcas.,  10;  on  implied  pow- 
ers, etc.,  ;^7. 

llairison,  W.  H.,  President,  •.).'>, 

Hiiyne,    Senator,     opinion    on 

slaves,  etc.,  51). 
Homestead  Law,  182, 185,  190. 
Humane  sentiments  absent,194. 

Illegal  Voting,  292,  298. 
Illiterates,  ^28. 
Invoices,  double,  110. 
Irishman,  the,  63;  niistakes,10n; 
despised,  219  ;  deceived,  221. 

Jacobin  Cluks,  11. 

Jav's  Treaty,  15. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  a  candidate, 
71  ;  theories  chaniied,  72 ; 
they  are  carried  into  effect, 
77;' the  idol,  78-,  vetoes  U. 
S.  Bank,  82 ;    influence,  168. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  Sec.  of  Sfcite, 
12,  14 ;  on  NVashin5;ton's  ei- 
rors,  16;  symjiathy,  etc.,  20  ; 
British  ministers'  treatment 
of,  24  ;  resolutions  of,  98,  .S4; 
effort  to  use  banks  politically, 
44 ;  embargo,  46 ;  its  failure, 
48  ;  ]ieace  jxilicy,  51  ;  on  po- 
litical inspiration,  106;  au- 
thority of  name,  168. 

Johnson  Andrew,  vetoes  civil 
rights,  etc..  226;  plans,  241; 
Tylerized,  242  ;  his  policy  of 
restoration,  243. 

Johnson,  Reverdy,  refuses  to 
plead,  226. 

Kansas,  difficulties  of,  134. 
Knox,  Henry,  Sec.  of  war,  10. 
Kremer  letter,  69. 

Laborers,  ignorant,  imported, 
63. 


T,amnr,  L.,  Q  C.  240. 

Law  Hi'Kistrv,  293. 

Lee,  Kobert  K. ,  237  ;  240. 

Lin.'oln,  Abraham,  7,  108;  190 

240. 
Liquor  Interest,  the,  205;   314. 
Lousiana,  the    cost  of,  129  ;  it* 

value,  130. 

MANi'FACTUKiNGjimpulsc  given 

to.  51,  111  ;  265. 
Manufacturers',     benevolences, 

280. 
McDuffie,  Geo.,  Senator,  opinion 

on  slave  labor,  57. 
Marcy,    W.    L.,    his  aphorism, 

14;  170. 
Marshall,    Chief    Justice,     iu- 

fhience  of,  78;    172. 
Moneyed  Power,  42  ;   250. 
Morison,  Chairman  etc.,  152. 

Navy,  our  first,  50. 

Nicknames,  prejndice  of  249 ; 
silk  stocking  gentry,  250 ;  Lo- 
cofoco,  Bourbon,  251;  black 
republican  251,  252;  copper- 
heads, 254. 

Nullifiers,  112;  in  congress, 
175. 

OsTEND,  Manifesto  the,  128. 

Pendleton,  Senator,  .310,  312. 
"Pets,"  the  (banks),  S.7. 
Platform  statements,  255. 
Policies,  righted,  summary  of, 

243,  245. 
Postage,  cheap,  113,  116. 
Pretenses,  false,  282,  286. 
Progress,  true,  165  ;  industrial, 

303. 
Qualifications,  voting,  327. 

Reconstriction,  242. 

Republican  party,  136 ;  origin, 

180. 
Rebuffs  received  hy  emigrants 

223   224. 
Rest,  secular  day  of,  317. 
Riot  in  N.  Y.  city,  173,  175. 


INDEX. 


387 


dEYMOUR    Horatio,   Ev-Gov. 

329. 
Sljiter  Sanuiel,  introduces  ina- 

cliinery,  etc.,  54. 
Slater  John  F. ,  281. 
Slavery  in  Politics,  63,  133. 
Specie  payments,  2ti4  ;  2(36  ;  267. 
"  Spoil.s,"  the,  73,  373. 
Stevens  X.  H.,  240. 
Suiuiier  Prof. ,  quoted  on  Aliens 

etc.,  47  ;   on  tiie  banks,  84. 
Suniniarv  of  Rejected  Policies, 

343-345. 
Swartwout,  defaulter,  95. 

Tact  in  Management,  233. 

Tariff,  our  First,  53;  an  equal- 
izer of  tlie  cost  of  production, 
55;  efforts  against,  91;  of  '42, 
of  '46,  118  ;  146,  147;  com- 
mission, 150. 

Tavlor,  Gen.  Zachary,  in  Texas, 
125;   President,  137. 

Teller's,  Senator,  report,  225. 

Temperance  Question,  318,  358. 

Texas,  cost  of,  127-129. 

Theories,  Democratic,  337. 


Trading,  Political,  271,  274. 
Trist,  N.  P.,  statement,  126. 
Tweed  Ring,  the,  207  ;    coiiiite- 
nauced,  208. 

Van  Buken,  Martin,  views^ 
65 ;  as  a  j)olitician,  73 ;  re- 
proof of,  88  ;  opinions  on  pol- 
itical tactics,  103;  on  sons 
and  fathers,  107. 

Yon  Hoist,  quoted,  18,  41,  60'. 
voter's  responsibility,  213. 

WAsniNnTON,  Georoe,  Presi- 
dent, 10;  policy  of,  12. 

Walker's,  Rohert  J., report,  100. 

Windom,  Sec.  Treas.,  276,  300. 

Whig  party,  08  ;  179  ;  247. 

Whig  Congress,  action  of.  111. 

World,  the,  governed  too  much, 
17. 

Workingman's  Capital,  156, 157. 

Young  Men,  319  ;  living  issue 
at  hand,  321 ;  their  responsi- 
bility, 325. 


APPENDIX. 


Aphorisms,  19,  74,  170. 
Base  Changed,  287-291. 
Brag,  Political,  143,  143. 
Brokers,  Hordes  of,  94. 
Clubs,  Jacobin,  10,  245. 
Copperheads,  254,  365. 
Liquor  Interest,  314-317  ;  376. 
Ku-Klux,  335. 


Obstruction  policy,  269  ;  366. 
Public  Schools,  danger  of,  378. 
Reciprocity  treaties,  357,  356. 
Senate  Committees,  68.     • 
Surplus,  369. 
Trick,  The,  117. 
Vices  copied,  109. 


POLITICAL    ECONOMY      ..n,o.  coth. 

305  Pages, 

FOR    AMERICAN    YOUTH,  p-ce,  $..«o. 

By  J.  HARRIS  PATTON,  M.A.,  Ph.D. 

The  title  of  tliis  book  explains  its  prominent  features.  Tiie  aim 
has  been  to  avoid  prolixity,  to  be  concise,  but  clear,  and  to  present  the 
t-sseutial  phases  of  the  study  in  such  maimer  as  to  interest  the  student 
who  may  be  willing  to  make  the  proper  exertion  to  understand  the 
subject. 

The  pruiiilnent  I'lmraftcrlKtlfS  of  thin  volume  are  the  IblloMliie: 

ist.  Historical  tacts  are  adduced  in  order  that  the  pupil  may  under- 
stand the  reasons  for  the  policy  of  the  Nation  as  manifested  in  its 
laws  pertaining  to  linancial  measures. 

2d.  Due  prominence  is  given  to  the  fact  that  we  support  two  kinds  of 
government,  State  and  National,  the  funds  of  which  are  derived 
from  two  diflerent  sources. 

3d.  The  Home  I^Iark'et  is  found  in  practice,  to  be  vastly  more  im- 
portant to  the  ."Vmerican  people  than  the  Foreign — the  latter 
being  in  value  only  one  twentieth  of  the  former. 

4th.  The  surplus  of  our  productions  is  found  to  be  abundantly  suf- 
ficient to  exchange  for  the  commodities  that  we  may  need,  and 
cannot  produce  ourselves. 

5th.  Reciprocity  with  certain  countries  is  recognized  as  consistent 
with  imposing  duties  upon  the  products  oi  competing  mechanical 
industries. 

6th.  The  cost  of  the  raw  material,  in  comparison  with  the  expense  of 
the  labor  bestowed  upon  the  manufactured  article,  is  found  to 
be  comparatively  small. 

7th.  In  respect  to  differences  of  opinion  on  one  phase  of  Political 
Economy — Free -Trade  versus  Protection — extreme  care  has 
been  taken  to  present  the  arguments  for  and  against,  fairly 
and  concisely,  and  in  such  terms  as  to  aid  the  diligent  student 
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instruction  on  economical  subjects." 

— ^J.  D.  Moffat,  President  of  IVasfiittgto?!  aiidfeffersoji  College. 

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methods  of  government  will  no  doubt  welcome  the  work  heartily." 

—  The  Cleveland  Leader. 

It  is  clear  and  lucid  in  style  and  is  abreast  with  the  best  thought  of 
modern  economists.  I  can  very  conscientiously  and  unreservedly 
commend  this  work  to  teachers  and  professors  in  academies  and 
higher  institutions  of  learning." 

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A.  LOVELL  &  COMPANY,  Publishers, 
3  East  14th  St.,  NEW  YORK.  521  Wabash  Ave.,  CHICAGO. 


400  Years  of  flm^Picsn  History 

1492— 1892. 

By  J.  HARRIS  PATTON,  M.A.,  Ph.D. 

In  Two  Volumes.    Above  1200  octavo  pages,  large  type, 

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deals  with  each  successive  Administration  from  Washington  to  the 
close  of  the  first  century  of  the  nation's  life. 

The  Marginal  Notes  and  Dates,  and  the  Full  Indexes  ;  the  Appen- 
dix, containing  much  interesting  and  important  matter;  with  cross 
references  by  foot-notes  to  and  from  different  parts  of  the  work,  all 
help  to  put  the  entire  material  at  instant  and  ready  command. 

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erted influence  in  shaping  the  character  and  life  of  the  American 
people. 

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appreciation   of  liberty  and  an   enlightened  patriotism." 

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We  anticipate  for  the  work  a  cordial  reception  and  extensive  popular- 
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Mr.  Patton's  work  cannot  fail  to  fall   into  very  general    use." 

— Nezu  York  Herald. 
".  .  .  The  writer  has  done  his  work  well.  The  style  is  easy,  and 
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in  cumbrous  foot-notes.  And,  what  is  particularly  gratifying,  he  does 
ample  justice  to  the  religious  elements  that  enter  into  the  making  of 
the   American   people." 

— Francis  L.  Patton,  D.D.,  President  0/ Princeton  College. 


FORDS,     HOWARD,    &    HULBERT 
47  E.  TENTH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 


NATURAL  RESOURCES 
OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

By  J.  HARRIS  PATTON,  M.A.,  Ph.D. 


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